Gerald Nash (Labour) | Oireachtas source

When will this or the Lower House see Government legislation regulating the use of zero-hour, if-and-when, and low-hour contracts? We can all be gratified and satisfied that, through the work of the previous Government and the continuing work of elements of this Government, there are now 2 million people in work across the economy. That is a record. The unemployment rate has decreased by 40,000 in the past year. It is fair to say that approximately 90% of all of the new jobs created during the term of the previous Government were full-time jobs.

The difficulty is that the traditional employment relationship, the standard model with which we are all familiar, is fraying at the edges. Unfortunately, many labour market practices are operating at the edge of what employment law permits. I introduced the uncertain hours Bill to the House in recent months so as to provide legislation and regulation for people who were on insecure contracts and, because they were going to bed on a Sunday night not knowing how much they would earn that week, unable to plan their lives. This is not the type of society that Senators wish to preside over or encourage.A year and a half ago when I was Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, we published the UL study of the prevalence of zero-hour and low-hour contracts in the State. It contained a series of recommendations that we proposed the Government adopt to regulate this area better, but there has been no product from the Minister who has no interest in regulating the labour market or the quality of jobs. She is interested in the quantity of jobs but not their quality, which is a huge challenge. When can we expect the long awaited legislation from the Department to be before the Dáil or this House? Perhaps there is a message in the Fine Gael WhatsApp group and the Leader will inform the House of the status of the proposed legislation because I cannot locate it.