Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 December 2016
38. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the progress of the protections for workers on insecure low hour contracts legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38944/16]
View answerMy colleague, Minister Mitchell O’Connor, and I intend to bring forward proposals in this area for consideration by Government. In this respect, work has progressed well on developing a policy response to the University of Limerick (UL) study on zero hour contracts and low hour contracts. I intend to include protections aimed particularly at low-paid, more vulnerable workers.
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. 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.
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 at an advanced stage.
