Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On amendment No. 15, section 5 of the Bill inserts a new section 10C in the 2000 Act and provides for the function of the commission on low pay. In addition to making an annual recommendation report to the Minister on the national minimum hourly rate of pay, new section 10C(4) provides that the commission may be requested by the Minister to examine and report on such matters related generally to the functions of the commission under the act. In this context, subsection 4B(1) provides that such requests be made not later than two months after the start of each year. This would mean that the Minister would not be able to request the commission to examine an issue until early 2016 at the earliest. Therefore it is considered appropriate to make provision to allow the Minister to request the commission to examine a particular matter within two months of its establishment in 2015. In future years such requests will be made to the commission by the end of February of each year.

Amendment No. 16 introduces a number of specific tasks which the commission will be required to undertake as part of its functions - to monitor the incidences of low pay by examining the prevalence of pay two thirds below median earnings; key patterns in paid and unpaid open market internships; and, the effectiveness of existing policies to enforce the national minimum wage. Section 5 of the Bill introduces a new section 10C(4) which provides that the commission may be requested by the Minister to examine a report on social matters related generally to the functions of the commission under the Act. The published Bill provides that requests should be made not later than the first two months of each year and will be part of the commission's work programme. I believe that the legislative provision covering the commission's work programme each year shouldn't be proscriptive and inflexible. Amendment 16 would tie the hands of the commission regarding its annual work programme. For specific issues related to the work of the commission a request can be made to the commission to examine and report on the matter. The specific topics raised in the amendment may be worthy of examination at some point, but I do not believe it is appropriate to set them down in legislation. Accordingly I cannot accept the recommendation.

Amendment No. 17 requires further consideration regarding the matter of laying reports before both Houses and I will be giving it further consideration. I will revert to the House on the issue at Report Stage.