Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. I am proud to speak on this Bill and in doing so I want to thank my colleague, Senator Sherlock, for bringing forward such legislation and for all her hard work on it. She has been championing legislation to improve the quality of life of all workers in recent years, from paid sick leave to paid leave for pregnancy loss. I am also glad that the Bill provides for the needs of students, as they are more than deserving of the minimum wage for all the work they carry out.

This Bill is simple yet effective and would bring unpaid internships within the remit of the minimum wage, which after all, is only right and fair. Unpaid internships are often billed, advertised and promoted as incredible opportunities, learning experiences and exposure, when in reality we all know that unpaid internships are used by companies, employers, and even sometimes public bodies, to plug gaps in their workforce. It is simply unpaid labour and it is unfair. It is truly sad to realise that in 2022, as Labour Party Members of this Seanad, we still need to repeat the old honest refrain and mantra of a decent day's pay for a decent day's work. Unpaid work not only makes it harder for individuals to make ends meet but it undermines the value of work across the board. It also undermines the value of the skills, commitment and ability that people bring to this work.

It is worth noting that the existence of internships may be a recent development in Ireland but the growth of their popularity should tell us a lot about how they are being used. As Senator Sherlock mentioned, the responses from the interns to the survey conducted by the Labour Party on this are stark. I was particularly taken aback by a response from a woman in the county that I live in, Kildare, whose internship was unpaid. For her, it did not contribute to an academic qualification and it lasted longer than one year. How have we reached this place in a modern and wealthy economy? According to recent reports, the rich spent the global pandemic increasing their share of the pile, yet we still have people so badly in need of the experience demanded by companies and employers in Ireland that they have to work unpaid for more than a year. It completely undermines the value of work.