Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and I thank him for his stewardship of the Department of Finance. I congratulate him on listening to the views of many and on his own vision in terms of the extension of the 9% VAT rate in the hospitality sector. Retention of that rate is important in terms of jobs and people. If the Minister were to listen to the dystopian view of the world from Senator Gavan one would imagine the Government we are part of and support has done nothing to help anybody, to assist, to promote or ensure that the infrastructure of the State was wrapped around employers, employees, workers and their families. At a time when people needed the State, Government acted responsibly and with a vision. Throughout the world, that was acknowledged.

The vast infrastructure was necessary because at the heart of what we are as an economy and as a people is jobs and investment in our cities and towns in rural and urban Ireland. As a world and as a country, we need to reflect on where we have come from since the pandemic began. Senator Casey spoke about this being the final Covid-19-related Bill. The pandemic has changed the world view and our view of work, the workforce, the workplace, what it means to be an employer and what it means to be a worker. We talk about the future of Europe. The future of work in our country and in the world is an issue on which we need to have a real and serious conversation whatever our ideologies. The world of work has changed and the workplace has changed. We can cast our minds back to the simplicity of the commute into Dublin from Cork to attend at the Oireachtas, at a time when traffic was at a trickle. Today, it is back to pre-pandemic levels despite the Government having invested in public infrastructure to bring about a modal shift from the car to public transport.

We never thought phrases such as "working from home" or "remote working" would become part of our lexicon and part of the daily lives of so many people. For many, the work-life balance has improved. Virtual meetings, flexibility and so on have all become part of the nature of work and of jobs. That is important. Equally important are the figures articulated by the CSO, which show an unemployment rate of 4.8% this April compared to 7.5% last year. This means we have an economy that is growing, notwithstanding the cost of inflation, the cost of doing business,the cost of living increases, the gargantuan war in the Ukraine and the troubles associated with that and the changing world. The growing employment figures present a stark question to us in regard to particular sections of our economy. We need to have a real conversation about that. There is a real need for those of us on the Labour Panel in the Seanad to have that debate. There are many vacant posts in the hospitality sector. People will not take up jobs in the sector even though the rate of pay is above the minimum wage. We can have a debate on the living wage and the minimum wage as part of that conversation, but we need to know what that is the case. People in the industry say the lack of attractiveness in terms of not being able to spend more time at home and the requirement to work unsociable hours are part of the draw away from the sector.

I acknowledge the work of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, in regard to jobs week, under which 40 different events will be held around the country. It is an important piece of work in terms of her brief as Minister for Social Protection. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, along with the former Minister, Deputy Bruton, and their associated Departments remodelled the world of work. The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, is continuing that work now in terms of the local enterprise offices and so on.

The CSO figures show that 84% of businesses survived Covid-19, 10% remain at risk and 6% have closed. The Convention on the Constitution - Citizens' Assembly is discussing a myriad of important issues.I contend that we need to have a national conversation, in a constitutional convention or citizens' assembly and in tandem with the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Labour Panel of the Seanad, on the future of work. There is a real need for it. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is challenging all of us regarding both the role played by apprenticeships and making them more accessible. I wish I had more time. I received a very interesting email from a friend of mine who is a builder about trying to get tradespeople and others into the building industry and construction sector and how he thinks the Government can help. This is important legislation.

I commend the Minister on his stewardship and his proactivity. We should not just look at Covid-19 through the rear-view mirror and learn nothing about the world of work. We need to embrace what has happened, remembering that we need the employer and the employee. We cannot have one without the other. I thank the Minister for being here.