Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media entitled ‘Working Conditions and Skills Shortages in Ireland’s Tourism and Hospitality Sector’, copies of which were laid before Seanad Éireann on 15th November, 2022.

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I welcome the Minister and Deputy Niamh Smyth to the Chamber. Deputy Smyth was a very effective Chairperson of our committee. I look forward to a productive discussion on working conditions and skills shortages in Ireland's tourism and hospitality sector. I thank our witnesses who made such vital contributions to the final report of the committee on this topic and shaped its key recommendations. The committee heard evidence from a number of stakeholders, including officials from the Department, Unite, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, SIPTU, Dr. Deirdre Curran from the University of Galway, Fáilte Ireland, the Irish Hotels Federation, the Restaurants Association of Ireland, the Vintners Federation of Ireland, and the Licensed Vintners Association.

I will draw particular attention to a number of the recommendations from the committee's report. Recommendation No. 1 states: "The Committee recommends that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media engage with Cabinet colleagues with a view to establishing an independent body with specific oversight of and responsibility for Ireland’s hospitality sector, with functions analogous to those of Fáilte Ireland in respect of Ireland’s tourism sector." Recommendation 2 states: "The Committee recommends that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media engage with Cabinet colleagues with a view to nominating a single Government Department to retain direct oversight of and responsibility for all aspects of Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector, to include working conditions and training and recruitment."

While the development of the tourism sector, including addressing skills shortages, has an oversight structure in the form of Fáilte Ireland, a common theme among a number of the stakeholders was that no one body or entity has a direct remit for hospitality. Industry stakeholders emphasised the need for collaboration between the sectors of tourism and hospitality and the need for a responsible, unified governing or development body, with many suggesting that the Department would seem the logical solution. The tourism careers oversight group was cited as an example of where the delivery of such a responsibility is vital, with an accountable body for the delivery of any recommendations arising from the oversight group.We also recommend that the Minister would engage with industry stakeholders and any other relevant actors or organisations to seek, as a matter or urgency, a workable solution to the legal issues that have shut down the joint labour committees, JLCs, relating to tourism and hospitality, and to ensure they can be re-established to provide a process for fixing statutory minimum rates of pay and conditions of employment for employees in these sectors. Given the clear evidence presented to the committee of widespread poor pay and working conditions in many parts of the tourism and hospitality sectors, there is a need for workers to be given a choice and to have greater representation to form a strong part of the oral and written evidence received. One mechanism discussed as the delivery of a voice to workers was the joint labour committee system. Those in favour of re-establishing the joint labour committee system largely included the trade union groups, which were broadly of the view that a joint labour committee established for the tourism and hospitality sector would provide an appropriate framework for employees and employer representatives to deal with issues pertaining to the tourism and hospitality sector, and that the system could fix minimum rates of pay alongside conditions of employment for the sector. We ask the Minister to explore workable solutions towards the re-establishment of JLCs.

Recommendation 5 from the committee's report is that the Minister engages with Cabinet colleagues with a view to advocating for increased resourcing of the Workplace Relations Commission to increase the number and prioritisation of Workplace Relations Commission inspections of all tourism and hospitality businesses, with increased inspectorate staff and an enhanced complaints mechanism for workers in the sector, whereby workers' anonymity can be respected.

It was observed in evidence to the committee that employees in the sector can sometimes be subject to poor working conditions with employers and in some cases they did not adhere to the minimum protections for employees that are set out in a number of pieces of employment legislation. Employees concerns regarding appropriate pay and adequate break time are also noted. Harmful workplace behaviours with ill-treatment of migrant and female employees within the sector were also observed. The committee acknowledges that there are many good employers in the sector also and calls for the reinforcement of the Workplace Relations Commission operations in the sector to eliminate any poor workplace practices.

Recommendation 7 is that the Department, in engaging with any interdepartmental group or forum concerning Ireland's tourism and hospitality sectors, advocates for and ensures insofar as possible that the interests of trade union groups and workers are equally represented, alongside those of employers and their representative groups. Again, the fundamental tenet that workers should have greater representation and be given a platform to voice concerns or views was strongly advocated for in much of the evidence received by the committee. It was noted that this in-work democracy should be key in ensuring employee and employer trust. As such, the committee recommends that the interests of trade union groups and workers, and of employers and their representative groups, are equally represented.

Recommendation 11 in the committee report is that the Minister works with the industry and with workers' unions to produce a national standardised code of conduct that is mandatory and legally binding for the hospitality sector, including protections for women, migrants and minority groups.

The union groups and academics who engaged with the committee presented evidence of harmful workplace practices in the sector. The committee recommends that such behaviours are addressed through an enforceable code of conduct in the sector, to safeguard the workers and to make the sector the vital economic player that it is for the country.

I thank the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, for being here and for listening to our report.