Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is good to see this Bill back before the House. It is good that there has been a real consultation on the key issue of the service charge.

I will begin by introducing our colleagues in the Gallery this evening. They are Joe Cunningham, general secretary of SIPTU, Fiona Dunne from the ONE Movement and Clem Shevlin from SIPTU. They are here specifically to listen to the debate on this Stage because they played a leading role in the campaign around my tips Bill in the previous Seanad and in the context of ensuring respect and dignity for workers in the sector. The trade union movement deserves a huge amount of credit for the campaign it has built behind the issue of tips justice and, related to that, the very important issue of the service charge.

I do not mind which amendments are passed in order to achieve the goal I hope we all want to see being realised, namely, an end to what has been the scandal of service charges. A host of large restaurant chains operating in this city slap on service charges that customers may well think have been going to the staff when that has not been the case. Unfortunately, we are all familiar with some hotels, and I stress some, that also slap on a service charge once there are six people in a group. I can tell the House, from first-hand experience as someone who has worked as a trade union official and worked in this sector, that all too often those charges were unfortunately not passed on to the people who earned them, that is, those who delivered the service.

It has been a long journey. The original tips Bill, which was a Sinn Féin Bill, had a broad campaign of support behind it, including from the Labour Party and the Civil Engagement Group. That started five years ago. It was frustrating to see our Bill blocked by a money message, and quite a cynical one, in the previous Dáil. That said, the point to make is that there was a major campaign and a head of steam built up around this issue. It simply did not go away. It featured in the general election campaign, and that was where we got commitments, I think from all parties, to deal with the issue. Therefore, we are pleased to see this Bill.

We are pleased about Committee Stage because we had a good exchange of views on Second Stage and, in fairness, the Government said it would listen and take on board our concerns about the service charge. I am sure I will not be the only person to mention this but the key aspect pointed out to us was that the origin of service charges in Dublin was after a strike by trade union workers in the sector who needed a decent pay rise. The solution to that was the introduction of a service charge that was distributed by trade unions. That was the origin of the service charge in Dublin in 1951. I will not be the only one to credit Norman Croke for that, but he has fought ferociously and lobbied a number of us on this issue. I pay tribute to Dr. Deirdre Curran, who, as an academic, has done fantastic work in this sector.

I remind colleagues of a point I made a few minutes ago. We still have huge issues in this sector. According the Government's own body, 68% of workers in the sector earn less than €12 per hour. The solution to that is a joint labour committee, JLC. If the Government wants this sector to be one in which people can have decent careers and look forward to pay progression and respect, then we need to reinstitute a JLC to make that happen. Surely none of us can accept a sector in which, according to Fáilte Ireland, 70% of workers, or seven out of every ten, earn less than €12 per hour. That is not a sector people can have careers in. There is a bigger conversation to be had on that, but I welcome the fact the Government has listened.

I pay tribute to those in the trade union movement who led this campaign from the start. We will do good work tonight to ensure decent legislation on tips. There are one or two other points I will raise during the course of the debate, but this is something of which we can all be proud.