Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I compliment Senator Ruane's contribution. There is enough material in her opening remarks for a debate for another day. I commend her on her heartfelt sentiments on the issues she raised. I want to bring two points to the Minister's attention. On the class S stamp for county councillors, when it comes to the issue of councillors' terms and conditions I am reminded of the old Chinese proverb that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step. I commend the Minister for acknowledging the role of the councillor and for taking this single step. I compliment the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, and the Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA, regarding the contributions they have made on this. There is much extra work to be done on that and I look forward to the contribution of the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, and what he is going to bring forward, hopefully in the not too distant future. Perhaps the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, will indicate if there is an opt out facility on the class S stamp for councillors who wish to opt out? If the answer is "no", was any consideration given to that? Other Senators have made reference to rebates and credits given to councillors who have already made payments and perhaps the Minister will comment on this also. Could the Minister confirm exactly when the new regime will be put in place?

I also want to talk about statutory redundancy. Currently the full payment of statutory redundancy falls totally on the shoulders of the employer. This is a very backward step and I would ask the Minister to look at it. It is an impediment to employers in taking on staff because the full payment falls on the employer's shoulders. One would even go as far to say that it acts as a disincentive to employers. In some cases, it could encourage some employers to go in to receivership as an easy way of opting out of redundancy payments. The old regime in place up to recent years, where the State paid a contribution to the statutory payment, was very worthwhile. I ask the Minister to look at reintroducing that scheme in some shape or form, even over a phased basis as resources allow. It is important that some form of scheme is put in place as soon as possible.