Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The same situation arose last year in respect of an amendment to the Adoption (Amendment) Act 2017. We were told that an amendment would be completely unworkable in practice and that it would give rise to too much of an administrative burden. Lo and behold, when it passed, everything necessary fell into place in order for it to work.It is not about a notice hour. That is administrative stuff. It is not about who gets it. It is about making hours available. Perhaps one can apply for those hours. It is not just that a person is picked and is given those hours. Employers will put processes in place where people apply for, and access, those hours. In most cases, it is not going to be just five hours. Someone could leave, and it could be ten hours. These are small groups of people in employment in shops, in shopping centres and in hairdressers. They are cleaners getting minimal amounts of work. If the problem is that this is too wide, where it takes in everyone's employment and all levels of work, then an amendment can be included here that can look at the types of contracts people are on, and where this is made available to them.

It is not fair to say this would be delayed. No legislation would ever pass in this House if that were the case because we introduce amendments to legislation all the time that create new systems which have to be put in place for them to work and for that law to be workable. It is not fair to say this Bill will not be able to move forward because an amendment has been included in it. It is just about finding out how that amendment can work best in practice so that it suits everyone.