Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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638. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated number of existing workers who would see a change in their contracts as a result of the new section 18(2) of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. [7041/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Section 14 of the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017, which was published in December, proposes the replacement of the existing section 18 in the Organisation of Working Time Act with a new section. One of the purposes of the proposed new section 18 is to prohibit zero hour contracts in most circumstances.

The University of Limerick (UL) in its study on the prevalence of zero hour contracts and low hour contracts among Irish employers found that zero hour contracts as defined within current Irish employment rights legislation are not extensively used in Ireland. It found low working hours can arise in different forms in employment contracts, such as regular part-time contracts with fixed hours or a contract with “If and when” hours only or a hybrid of the two.

While I am not in a position to estimate the number of existing workers that would see a change in their contracts as a result of the new section 18, I am confident that this and the other measures proposed in the Bill will significantly improve the employment protections for employees on less secure employment arrangements. The Bill is scheduled for Second Stage in the Dáil this week and I look forward to working with colleagues on all sides of both Houses of the Oireachtas in progressing the Bill as expeditiously as possible.