Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and congratulate the Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, and all its members on the publication of this very timely and insightful report. I also thank and congratulate the staff of the committee secretariat who work so hard to produce documents that are of such a high standard. Sometimes those staff do not get as much credit as they should.

We all know the importance of the tourism and hospitality sector as these major industries employ a huge number of people across this State. The report states that the tourism and hospitality sector accounted for 67% employment in regional and rural areas before Covid. That percentage is particularly striking. These industries are vital parts of the Irish economy, which was reflected by the significant supports they received during the Covid pandemic and by the recent decision to extend the period of the 9% VAT rate for the sector for another few months.

As detailed in the report, the sector continues to face major challenges when recruiting and retaining staff. That situation is unsurprising given the many challenges that come with working in the sector. For example, people work long, irregular hours, and the work is physically demanding. In addition, some customers are difficult and there is often workplace bullying. These are all common features of working life in the sector.According to research conducted by Unite, which is referenced in the committee’s report, 80% of respondents reported that working in the sector negatively impacted their well-being; 70% reported experiencing workplace bullying - that is a shocking number - many of whom felt unable to report it; and 52% perceived that migrant workers were treated worse than their Irish-born colleagues. This is really concerning and very disheartening stuff. Workers are being forced to endure real hardships. A great deal of patience and resilience is required to work in the sector and this is fuelling staffing shortages in the sector.

Clearly, with the level of unfair treatment of workers in this sector, it should be a priority to resource additional oversight by the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, of working conditions and to encourage and facilitate the organisation of trade unions among these workers. The committee’s report references fascinating and worrying research from Dr. Deirdre Curran on the rate of non-compliance with employment law in the sector. Dr. Curran’s research found that, of those inspected in 2019, 73% of hotels and 30% of food and beverage employers were violating employment law. Dr. Curran also found that €54,000 of unpaid wages were recovered through the WRC that year. This amount is likely only a fraction of the actual level of wage theft that goes on. It is particularly important to mention that while the review of the civil legal aid system is ongoing, workers do not have a right to legal aid when in before the WRC, which is really worrying. This means they are often forced to represent themselves while the employer often has the resources to hire lawyers. This is a huge inequality of arms, which undermines the fairness of the process and replicates the power imbalance of the employment dynamic. This imbalance is something employment laws should seek to mitigate. Employment law means nothing if it is not enforced through rigorous inspection or if workers cannot access the legal support that they need to vindicate their rights in the legal system. Proper civil legal aid is a workers’ rights issue and I hope this is reflected in the outcome of the ongoing review.

Ultimately, the biggest single issue is pay and low pay, which many Senators have highlighted. This is according to 77% of respondents as contained in the report conducted by Unite. Some 55.6% of those respondents made less than €12.30 per hour. I do not know how they live on that to be honest. Some of them held management positions. They are low-wage workers living in an incredibly expensive country. Tourism and hospitality workers are living at the sharp edge of the cost-of-living crisis. When workers are on low pay and cannot survive on their wages alone, they need to be supported by the State. Businesses receive an additional, indirect subsidy when their workers qualify for housing assistance payments, HAP, and other benefits. I echo the demand of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions that employers who receive State subsidies and public moneys should be obliged to adhere to all employment legislation, to engage in State collective bargaining structures and to provide decent, sustainable employment terms and conditions or forfeit the support they receive.

Many workers in the tourism and hospitality sector work unsocial hours with no additional premium. Most workers are not paid a higher rate for late-night work. Some 75% of respondents in the Unite study did not receive a Sunday premium. Dublin Bus never struggles to schedule enough workers for Sunday services. That is because there is a recognition of the additional burden of working on Sundays and drivers are compensated accordingly. People are ready and willing to do the work required if they are motivated by adequate pay.

In a tight, post-pandemic labour market, it has become clear that workers have higher expectations and are willing and able to leave substandard employment in order to find a better offer. If these sectors are to be sustainable, they must act decisively to improve pay and working conditions. A good start would be the re-establishment of the joint labour committee for the sector, as recommended by the report. It could play a role in creating a reasonable and dignified minimum standard for workers in the sector, provided their voices are adequately represented in the process. The report’s recommendation of a national standardised code of conduct that is mandatory and legally binding for the hospitality sector, including protections for women, migrants and minority groups, is also extremely welcome.

The report’s recommendation that the Department ensures an equal voice for workers and trade unions in any interdepartmental forum on tourism reflects an important shift in outlook. Tourism and hospitality are important parts of the Irish economy, but we cannot have a tourism policy that is narrowly focused on growth, that ignores the working conditions of those in the sector, in addition to the environmental, cost-of-living and quality-of-life implications that the growth of the sector has for Ireland. Tourism needs to be sustainable.

I am glad that one of the report’s recommendations is that the Department conducts further research on working conditions and the implementation of employment rights in the tourism and hospitality sector. This research needs to be rooted in the experience of workers. It would also benefit from speaking with the employment lawyers who do pro bonowork at the WRC on behalf of workers, which is often co-ordinated through independent law centres. We need to think hard about how we expand workers' rights but we must also ensure that existing legislation is effectively enforced and that workers can avail of the protections they are currently afforded under the law.

I want to conclude by congratulating everyone involved with this fine report and I hope its sensible and considered recommendations are taken up by the Minister and the Department.