Alex White (Labour)

In what manner is it not thought through? This legislation is modelled on existing legislation covering the rights of fixed-term workers. There is nothing particularly strange or unusual in the overall scheme of this legislation. That statement is not thought through. It is a self-serving attempt by the Government to renege on the responsibility it should have as a sovereign Government to legislate for the basic rights of employees and workers in this State.

Senator Norris is correct. We should not leave this to social partnership in case, as Senator Callely extraordinarily said, we would be imposing it on the social partners. This is the parliament of a sovereign country. We make the legislation; we set the standards; we set what the minimum standards ought to be. That is what we should be doing, not hiding behind this notion of flexibility. The only thing not thought through in this House is the Minister of State's speech. It is a tissue of excuses and alibis and it simply is not acceptable in this State.

On behalf of my colleagues I thank others who have supported the proposition. I wish to reply to the very reasonable question asked by Senator Paschal Donohoe in respect of pay. He was concerned that other criteria should be used when differentiating pay and I agree with him. Performance targets was one issue he raised. We might have differences on exactly how that might be implemented but this Bill will not interfere with it. We simply propose that there should be no discrimination against someone solely by reason of the fact he or she an agency worker. If performance or some other criterion is introduced, it can be introduced in equal measure for agency workers and non-agency workers. There should not be different treatment of agency workers.

Similarly in the case of pay, the Bill proposes that there should not be less favourable treatment of an agency worker. Senator Donohoe expressed the legitimate concern if an agency worker were earning more than the comparator, whether they would be stymied by this Bill. I assure him they would not because the provision in section 5(1) states that an agency worker should not be treated in a less favourable manner than a comparable employee. This would settle any concerns that an agency worker's pay might be reduced by this Bill.