Robert Dowds
Question:303. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the mandatory three hours of continuous work for employees. [1282/16]
View answerWednesday, 13 January 2016
Questions (303)
Written answers
I take it that the Deputy is referring to one of the recommendations made by the University of Limerick (UL) in its study on the prevalence of zero hour contracts and low hour contracts among Irish employers. It is important to point out that this is an independent study and the conclusions drawn and the recommendations made in the study are those of UL. Therefore, I considered it 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 UL, were given an opportunity to consider and respond to the findings and recommendations in the UL report.
To this end, my Department sought submissions from interested parties by way of a Public Consultation. A large number of submissions were received by 4 January 2016, the closing date for receipt of such submissions. The responses contain a variety of views both for and against the findings and recommendations as made by UL, which will require careful consideration by my Department over the coming period. This will inform the policy response to be considered by Government arising from the study.