Zero-hour contracts Bill
Brendan Howlin asked when the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill would be introduced to tackle zero-hour contracts, and Paul Murphy sought further consultation on amendments. The Minister said the Bill was on the session’s list, had involved union consultation, and would also be informed by a separate report on bogus self-employment.
Right now, there are construction workers outside protesting over zero-hour contracts and calling for an end to them, warning that they have an extraordinary effect on family life, health and people's ability to plan their lives or get mortgages. Following the work substantially progressed by the then Minister, Senator Ged Nash, the Government published the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill last year. When will that Bill be introduced and when does the Tánaiste envisage that we will have a proper debate to address what is a very serious issue?
Comment on this
The Deputy stated that the Bill was published before Christmas and it is on the list to be dealt with this session. As soon as we are given a scheduled date by the Business Committee, we will be in like Flynn.
Comment on this
On the same issue, the conditions faced by those workers outside, from O'Neill and Brennan, are somewhat equivalent to those in a 19th century dock in that they have no control over where they will be tomorrow, whether they will still have a job or how many hours they will have. I am glad we will debate it soon but will the Minister be engaging with Mandate and ICTU to take on board the criticisms that have been levelled at the proposed Bill? These include the question of eliminating the exemptions for casual workers, reducing the time for which the protections kick in as the current 18 months limit would exclude the workers outside, the need to narrow the bands, and the need to deal with bogus self-employment, which I know the Minister has separately referenced as an issue that will be dealt with but is not included in the current draft of the Bill.
Comment on this
There was extensive consultation with unions to develop the Bill and I am sure amendments will be made on the five Stages of the Bill, which we will discuss in this House and in committee. There is a separate report, done by the Department of Finance and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, on bogus self-employment which will go to Cabinet shortly and will give key recommendations for tackling this very serious issue.