David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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366. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the legislation she has brought forward or plans to enhance the rights of workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10935/17]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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In conjunction with my colleague Minister Mitchell-O'Connor, I intend to bring forward proposals dealing with the Programme for Government commitments to tackle the increasing casualisation of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious employment for consideration by Government. I intend to include protections aimed particularly at low-paid, more vulnerable workers. Our proposals will address the issue of workers on low hour contracts who consistently work more hours each week but whose contracts do not reflect the reality of their hours worked. The proposals will also seek to ensure that employees are better informed about the nature of their employment arrangements and their core terms at an early stage in their employment.

The policy response is being informed by the UL study itself as well as the extensive material and practical examples provided by respondents to the public consultation conducted by my Department. My Department is currently engaged in a dialogue process with ICTU and IBEC to secure broad agreement before proposals are finalised. This work is being progressed as expeditiously as possible and is nearing conclusion. It is intended to bring our proposals to Government in Q1 2017.

A number of actions were initiated as part of the Government’s response to the closure of Clerys. This included the Duffy-Cahill expert examination of legal protections for employees.

The Duffy-Cahill report provides a comprehensive analysis of the relevant provisions of employment law and company law. It makes a number of proposals for reform of the law, which are primarily concerned with amendments to employment law. My Department conducted a Public Consultation on the report following its publication on 26 April 2016.

The submissions received in response to the consultation are important in terms of assessing how the suggested reforms could operate in practice and in identifying any unintended consequences. They will inform the response to the report which will be brought forward for consideration by Government.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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367. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the legislation she plans to develop to prevent and penalise exploitation in the workplace; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10936/17]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Ireland has a comprehensive suite of employment rights legislation including measures to prevent exploitation in the workforce. We have a well-resourced labour inspectorate, which forms part of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). In addition, where an individual believes they are being deprived of employment rights applicable to employees, they may refer a complaint to the WRC where the matter can be dealt with by way of mediation or adjudication leading to a decision enforceable through the District Court. Anti-penalisation and victimisation provisions are strong in Irish employment rights legislation e.g. a former employee can be awarded compensation of up to five years' remuneration for unfair dismissal on the grounds of having made a protected disclosure.

In conjunction with my colleague Minister Mitchell-O'Connor, I intend to bring forward proposals dealing with the Programme for Government commitments to tackle the increasing casualisation of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious employment for consideration by Government. We intend to include protections aimed particularly at low-paid, more vulnerable workers. Our proposals will address the issue of workers on low hour contracts who consistently work more hours each week but whose contracts do not reflect the reality of their hours worked. The proposals will also seek to ensure that employees are better informed about the nature of their employment arrangements and their core terms at an early stage in their employment.

The policy response is being informed by the University of Limerick (UL) study on zero hour contracts and low hour contracts as well as the extensive material and practical examples provided by respondents to the public consultation conducted by my Department. My Department is currently engaged in a dialogue process with ICTU and IBEC to secure broad agreement before proposals are finalised. This work is being progressed as expeditiously as possible and is nearing conclusion. The intention is to bring our proposals to Government in Q1 2017.