Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing my time with Senator Doherty.

I welcome the Tánaiste to the Chamber and I welcome the Bill. I acknowledge Senator Doherty's previous role, as Minister responsible for employment affairs, and her role in bringing this Bill to a certain stage.

There has always been confusion over tips. I was examining some of the main issues that hospitality workers spoke about in respect of dealing with tips with employers. Some workers do not even receive tips; for others, tips are regarded as part of their pay. I worked in bars and restaurants in the hospitality industry for more than ten years and noted there was always a different policy on tips no matter where I worked. In some places, the bar or restaurant staff took them, and in others they were shared by chefs or management. In my time, there always seemed to be a different policy for every place of employment in the hospitality sector. As the Tánaiste said, this Bill is about bringing transparency. It is important to support employees.

The Tánaiste spoke about the four main aims of the Bill: to prohibit employers from using tips and gratuities to "make up" rates of pay; to provide a legal entitlement for workers to receive tips and gratuities paid in electronic form; to ensure an employer may not retain any share of tips received electronically; and to require businesses to clearly display their policy on how tips, gratuities and mandatory service charges are distributed. Ultimately, as he said, there are good employers who go above and beyond in supporting staff with tips and who, based on my experience, actually add to them in some instances as a token of appreciation, and there are employers who do not do that, unfortunately.

One of the main points is the transparency the legislation affords. The Tánaiste spoke about it in respect of service charges. Only a few days ago, I was out for a meal and, because there was a table of six, there was a service charge of 10%. When paying, we were asking whether a tip should be left. Some people felt the service charge was a tip, while others felt the service charge was not necessarily a tip. This Bill brings clarity in that regard, which is important because, as we all know, service charges in certain establishments are not necessarily tips that go to the employees. We often see customers waiting to find a person who offered them excellent service to tip them because they are unsure whether their tip will go to that person if it is left on the table. Therefore, having a Bill like this is important.

The facility to give tips electronically will be used more and more, especially after Covid, because people have become so used to it. While I realise there is a difficulty in giving electronically paid tips to the employee rather than the employer, I would look for some sort of solution to this, in particular.

As the Tánaiste stated, this Bill is about protecting employees. The current and previous Governments introduced a range of measures in this regard. It raised the minimum wage and offered supports during Covid. It is to provide for a right to request remote working. The sick pay legislation that will come through this year will also support employees, which is really important. The Bill under discussion is another facet to that, which is welcome.