Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Labour Party group also wishes Tom Hickey the best in his retirement. I thank Tom for his great courtesy and helpfulness. His great sense of authority in managing Leinster House struck us over the years. I wish him the best in his retirement. I join previous speakers in thanking all the staff, the people we see and the people we do not see, in Leinster House, who make this building and Parliament work. I mention the cleaners, the catering staff, the staff in the Cathaoirleach's office and everybody in between, including in the Bills Office and the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, and the ushers. I convey our deep gratitude to them because without the staff, of whom there are many in Leinster House, we would not be able to get on with our jobs. I mention the staff who work in our offices as well and wish them the best for Christmas.

Yesterday, we saw what appears to be a breakthrough in Brussels with regard to the EU directive on platform workers. Negotiations have been ongoing for many months on the working conditions for some of the most precarious workers in this country and across Europe. These are workers who deliver the takeaways that people order, some journalistic and photographic content, as well as secretarial support online. There are many workers who have found themselves operating via platforms, with little or no rights and often forced into bogus self-employment. We had the bones of a tentative agreement yesterday. I hope we will see early in the new year an improved text for platform workers that will ensure the onus will be on employers to prove that workers are self-employed and will eliminate the bogus self-employment that afflicts so many. We had the landmark Supreme Court judgment on Domino’s Pizza drivers in recent weeks and it is incumbent on the Irish Government to respond to that.

The scenes in the Seanad yesterday were unseemly. We all come in to the House in good faith to debate legislation and everybody has a right to make a contribution on those Bills. The clock was talked down on an important Bill. We all talk about the need to support An Garda Síochána in trying to get our policing right. A Bill that affects all of our communities has been delayed, and that is unacceptable. We all know what is going on and we know the reasons why. We want to support the amendments. I spoke to the Minister after the debate yesterday and she offered to give her time to allow this Chamber to pass the Bill today. It is disgraceful that we are in a situation in which we are all willing to give up our time but we have been delayed.