Jimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I can speak from experience as I have been in a small business for more than 25 years in which the average number of employees was four or five. It was never an issue. Any employer who has good staff would not consider telling them, "You will not be paid for three days, so hard luck". One does not create that type of relationship in a small business and expect to survive. We are moving towards the norms that exist in Europe, but from my experience of having staff for 25 to 27 years it does not cross an employer's mind to move on without paying their staff or by having staff out of pocket. All employers over the years have had staff who were off for various reasons but they have never been legalistic with them and told them they are not getting paid for missing certain days. An employer will be flexible with their employees. It also works the other way around. Many times employees are flexible with their employer, such as agreeing to come in on a Saturday even though they do not have to do so. It works both ways.

For a business to survive at present, this provision will not make or break it. What we need is confidence back in business. I spoke to other small employers in my local area and asked them what difference this provision would make. They said it would be very little. They said their job is to get people in the door to sell their products and to get to the end of the month and the end of the year. It is really about the relationship the employer has with the employee, and 99 out of 100 employers and employees alike will have had good experiences. Those businesses will not survive if the staff and the employer are not pulling together. Perhaps it is an issue in a large company, where there is lower, middle and senior management and there are ongoing staff issues. However, in the small local business that is struggling to survive, this is not a massive issue. It would be great if the system we have could continue all the time, but we are moving towards what is normal in Europe, as the Minister said. We cannot afford that luxury. From my perspective, having been in that sector for a long time, I do not consider this a game changer for any business.