Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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28. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on If and When Contracts, as they are described in the recent University of Limerick study on short-hour and zero-hours contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41759/15]

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I am currently engaged in a public consultation on the University of Limerick’s study on the prevalence of zero hours contracts among employers in Ireland. The consultation process commenced on 9th November and will run over an eight week period to 4th January 2016. My Department has published on its website a Consultation Document designed to assist interested parties in making a written submission in response to the study. In addition to seeking written submissions from all interested parties, I met earlier this week with employer representative bodies, worker representative bodies and non-Governmental organisations to hear their views first hand.

It is important to point out that this is an independent study and the conclusions being drawn and the recommendations being made in the study are those of the University of Limerick. Therefore, it is essential that the various stakeholders who contributed to the study and indeed other interested parties who may not have had an opportunity to engage with the University of Limerick (UL), are given an opportunity to consider and respond to the findings and recommendations in the UL report. This will allow me to be more fully informed before formulating my own views on the policy recommendations that I should bring to Government arising from the study.