Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have asked for an increase in rent supplement limits but that should be done in conjunction with some reasonable limit being imposed in respect of rent increases. I welcome this afternoon's announcement to the effect that the Minister of State with responsibility for business and employment, Deputy Nash, published the report on the prevalence of zero-hour contracts. The findings of the study, conducted by the University of Limerick, are very interesting. While they establish that there is not an extensive number of zero-hour contracts in Ireland, there is a large number of "if-and-when" contracts in existence here. The idea behind the latter is that, unlike the position with zero-hour contracts, the person is not obliged to make himself or herself available for work. As we all know, however, people on the type of contracts to which I refer do make themselves available for work. The impact on young people, in particular, is well known and has been highlighted by trade unions and NGOs. They have argued that the unpredictability of work, the difficulties in managing work and home life, unstable incomes, difficulties in accessing financial credit, contracts that do not reflect the reality of the number of hours worked, insufficient notice when called to work and so on have a distinct impact on the younger cohort of workers. Given that the report contains a number of interesting and exciting recommendations, I ask that time be made available for a debate on it and - as I have requested previously - on the wider issue of young people. The issue of predictability of work is of major concern to that cohort.