Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Let us see. The problem with reports is they change every year. Let us look at a report from 2021 from the Workplace Relations Commission. There were 38 cases relating to the hospitality sector and nine breaches, 24%, were recorded. The breaches in the administrative and support sector amounted to 38%; in agriculture it was 54%; in construction it was 41%; in electrical contracting it was 75%, in legal services it was 33%, in meat processing it was 60%, and in mechanical engineering and building, it was 40%. Let us bring a bit of balance into the debate.

I accept the industry is a challenging one. I agree with Senator Gavan about joint labour committees, JLCs. I support the JLC model, and I spoke here on the tipping Bill and how I had to use it when my father passed away suddenly and I had to take over the business. I relied on the JLC at that time. What the JLC did do, that we are not doing at the moment, is that it showed a progression. It outlined how people can progress from year one to year four until they are fully qualified. That is missing now. I am willing to accept that, but I am not willing to hear someone come in and throw out a statistic on its own and say this is a contaminated industry. This is one of the most vital industries that we have in rural Ireland to keep it alive.