Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I welcome the Minister and commend my colleagues in the Labour Party, particularly Senator Nash, on the Bill. I know how important the Bill is because, as a trade union official, I saw at first hand the abuse of these workers. They were blatantly told that they would have to take jobs on a self-employed basis or they would not get those jobs. We know from reports from the Department that this is a major problem that is costing hundreds of millions of euro in lost revenues each year. I reiterate my total agreement with Senator Nash's comments as we cannot just tinker around the edges with this because the matter is far too important.

I wish to express my frustration because, to my mind, this is a good Bill that is now on its journey. We have amendments aimed at strengthening the Bill but I would be happy to withdraw them with the right to resubmit because I do not want to in any way jeopardise what is a good Bill. Does the Minister accept that there is a major problem in this area? I can assure her that there is but I hope she already knows it. If that is the case, I am at a complete loss as to why we do not work with what is a very good Bill to move it forward, as it would have to complete a journey in the Seanad before going to the Dáil. There would be ample opportunity if amendments must be made or further discussions are to be had; we should have those discussions and move forward with the process.

The idea of waiting for a Government Bill presents a major problem because we have already waited too long. Workers have already waited too long and are suffering. To be frank, there is a high likelihood we will not have the time in this term to deal with a new Bill from start to finish. Is it any wonder people are cynical about politics when, instead of working with what is a good Bill - Sinn Féin believes we should progress this in order to defend workers - the Government appears to be indicating that it cannot do it because it did not publish the legislation? I hope I am wrong about that. Surely we are a bit more mature than that.

I acknowledge that the Minister has done good work in the past and we all co-operated on last year's miscellaneous provisions Bill. All parties had good input and it was a success. We can and we should do the same here. I am happy to withdraw my amendments with the right to resubmit them so as not to hold up this process in any way. It would be a major disservice to thousands of workers in this country if this Bill were to be defeated this evening. Surely we can do better than that.