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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: I also asked about under-employment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: With respect, this is not something that would not be said outside this meeting. I do not see what the difficulty is with witnesses offering an opinion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: With respect, people are entitled to offer an opinion on the work practices of an employer. The purpose of this meeting is to hear from the witnesses about the reality of low pay for many workers. A number of highly profitable companies are employing people on low hour contracts. It is outrageous that witnesses are not allowed to discuss that issue because it is the elephant in the room....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: I welcome the two witnesses from the Small Firms Association, SFA. Mr. A. J. Noonan said he was amused at the contributions from the trade union representatives, but I do not think there is anything amusing about the issues we are discussing. We are examining the issue of low pay. The facts from EUROSTAT, the OECD, the CSO, the Think-tank for Action on Social Change, TASC, and the Nevin...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: Apologies - the SFA.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: To come back to the living wage concept, I wish to refer to part of the presentation which we did not get to. The presentation suggests that it is not the job of businesses to redistribute wealth but to create wealth which can then be redistributed by Government. At the very start of the presentation, reference is made to the fact that the business community and small firms in particular...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: I am posing the questions. My point is that we are getting different figures from Mr. Taft and from Ms Callan. I looked at the EUROSTAT figures and they show that we drop significantly below the European average when one factors in the price of goods and services. The witnesses are obviously against an increase in the minimum wage and I would imagine that they are also against wage...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: With respect, Mr. Noonan is not on the minimum wage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: There are people who are on the minimum wage-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: There are people who are on the minimum wage-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: There are people who are on the minimum wage who cannot afford to meet their basic needs. There are people on low pay who are suffering because they live in deprivation. That is the reality for those workers. I am asking the witnesses, as representatives of employers' organisations, what responsibility employers have to meet that challenge and to deal with the very real situations those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: I understand Rhonellen’s position because it was stated in its presentation that it is against increasing the minimum wage. We can agree to disagree on the impact that would have on businesses, competitiveness, job losses and so on. If the company is not prepared to support an increase in the minimum wage, how does it stand over 21% of workers being on low pay? How does it stand...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: What has that got to do with it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: If I can respond to that through the Chair, because a number of charges have been made-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Low Pay and the Living Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: When the Senator has concluded.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: I second the amendment to the Order of Business tabled by Senator Denis O'Donovan. I commend the tens of thousands of people who took to the streets on Saturday in protest at the Government's unfair water charges. This is the fourth occasion on which record numbers of people have come out on to the streets to campaign not only against unfair water charges but against many aspects of...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: School Completion Programme (25 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: I thank the Minister for taking this Commencement motion himself. I tabled this motion after meeting a number of school completion programme, SCP, co-ordinators in Waterford city in recent weeks. They have been lobbying elected representatives from all parties and none on cuts to the SCP over recent years. This programme was established in 2002 to have a significant positive impact on...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: School Completion Programme (25 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: It is laudable for the Minister to advise the agency of his commitment to ensure there is no reduction in school completion programme services. The problem with his statement is that co-ordinators on the ground have said budget cuts have had an impact on services. The figures outlined by him clearly demonstrate that there has been a significant cutback in funding to these programmes in...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: I raise the issue of water charges and Irish Water. Over recent days, we found out that very important meetings took place between very senior Irish Water staff and the then Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, at which no minutes were taken, which seems incredible given the major issues that were being discussed. Sinn Féin has called for an...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Mar 2015)

David Cullinane: Many people would be very surprised at this and given the level of crisis the Government has got itself into as a result of the introduction of water charges and the establishment of Irish Water, I am very surprised that the minutes of those meetings were not taken or that they are not available to the public and public representatives.Again, this is another reason to scrap Irish Water in its...