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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 9 Jul 2015

Vol. 886 No. 4

Order of Business

It is proposed to take No. 37, Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015 - Report and Final Stages (resumed); No. 1, Statute Law Revision Bill 2015 - amendments from the Seanad; No. 39, Gender Recognition Bill 2014 [Seanad] - Order for Report, Report and Final Stages; No. 12a, National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015 – instruction to committee; No. 38, National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015 - Order for Report, Report and Final Stages; and No. 40, Houses of the Oireachtas (Appointments to Certain Offices) Bill 2014 - Order for Report, Report and Final Stages.

It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the Dáil shall sit later than 5.30 p.m. tonight and shall adjourn on the conclusion of Topical Issues, which shall take place not later than 7 p.m.; that Report and Final Stages of No. 39 shall be taken today and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 2.30 p.m. by one question which shall be put from the Chair and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection; that Report and Final Stages of No. 38 shall be taken today and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 6 p.m. by one question which shall be put from the Chair and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation; and that Report and Final Stages of No. 40 shall be taken today and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 7 p.m. by one question which shall be put from the Chair and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

Friday's fortnightly business shall be No. 75, Criminal Law (Child Grooming) Bill 2014; and No. 13, report on Promoting Sustainable Rural, Coastal and Island Communities.

There are four proposals to be put to the House. Is the proposal for dealing with the late sitting agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 39 agreed to? Agreed. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 38 agreed to?

The National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015 is an important Bill which both the Tánaiste and I want to see delivered upon. Ireland has suffered massively in the last number of years with regard to low pay, which has become entrenched. There is a precariat in society consisting of those who cannot get proper employment or, at least, the hours they need to support their families. I have proposed a large number of amendments to the Bill, as have other Members. We are coming towards the end of the term and there is a shovelling through of legislation. Not enough space is available to give to the debate, with the result that we will have deficient legislation. I ask that more time be provided to discuss the Bill and, as such, I cannot agree with the proposal to deal with No. 38.

I am glad the Deputy is supportive of the Bill, which is incredibly important to people on low pay. As Tánaiste, I am delighted that I have focused particularly in the House on the establishment of the Low Pay Commission and getting the work on precarious hours up and running. We expect the Low Pay Commission report and the report of the University of Limerick on precarious pay and zero-hour contracts to be available to us fairly shortly. We need to get the Bill through, notwithstanding the Deputy's interest and contribution to the debate. The contributions of Members have been very valuable. We have had a great deal of debate on the Bill. There was repeated discussion and debate on some of the amendments, which used up a lot of time that might properly have been devoted to Deputy Tóibín's amendment. That is how the House addressed how the amendments were dealt with. As we expect that the Low Pay Commission will release its report shortly, I want to see the legislation being passed. Notwithstanding the Deputy's support for the Bill and his contribution to the debate, as well as the valuable contributions of others, we need to get the legislation into law so that we can proceed to implement improvements in the statutory minimum wage in Ireland and move to a living wage. That is the big picture. While I appreciate the Deputy's problems with regard to his own amendments, we should look at the big picture and how the Bill will help people on low pay if we get it dealt with today.

Question put: "That the proposal for dealing with No. 38 be agreed to."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 62; Níl, 33.

  • Breen, Pat.
  • Burton, Joan.
  • Butler, Ray.
  • Buttimer, Jerry.
  • Byrne, Catherine.
  • Cannon, Ciarán.
  • Carey, Joe.
  • Coffey, Paudie.
  • Conaghan, Michael.
  • Conlan, Seán.
  • Connaughton, Paul J.
  • Conway, Ciara.
  • Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
  • Costello, Joe.
  • Daly, Jim.
  • Deasy, John.
  • Deenihan, Jimmy.
  • Dowds, Robert.
  • Doyle, Andrew.
  • Durkan, Bernard J.
  • Farrell, Alan.
  • Feighan, Frank.
  • Ferris, Anne.
  • Fitzpatrick, Peter.
  • Gilmore, Eamon.
  • Griffin, Brendan.
  • Hannigan, Dominic.
  • Harrington, Noel.
  • Harris, Simon.
  • Humphreys, Heather.
  • Humphreys, Kevin.
  • Kehoe, Paul.
  • Kenny, Seán.
  • Kyne, Seán.
  • Lawlor, Anthony.
  • McCarthy, Michael.
  • McEntee, Helen.
  • McGinley, Dinny.
  • McHugh, Joe.
  • McLoughlin, Tony.
  • McNamara, Michael.
  • Mitchell O'Connor, Mary.
  • Mulherin, Michelle.
  • Nash, Gerald.
  • Neville, Dan.
  • Nolan, Derek.
  • Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
  • O'Donovan, Patrick.
  • O'Dowd, Fergus.
  • O'Mahony, John.
  • O'Reilly, Joe.
  • O'Sullivan, Jan.
  • Perry, John.
  • Phelan, Ann.
  • Reilly, James.
  • Ring, Michael.
  • Spring, Arthur.
  • Stagg, Emmet.
  • Stanton, David.
  • Tuffy, Joanna.
  • Varadkar, Leo.
  • Wall, Jack.

Níl

  • Adams, Gerry.
  • Aylward, Bobby.
  • Boyd Barrett, Richard.
  • Broughan, Thomas P.
  • Calleary, Dara.
  • Collins, Joan.
  • Collins, Niall.
  • Colreavy, Michael.
  • Coppinger, Ruth.
  • Cowen, Barry.
  • Ellis, Dessie.
  • Fitzmaurice, Michael.
  • Flanagan, Terence.
  • Grealish, Noel.
  • Halligan, John.
  • Healy, Seamus.
  • Kelleher, Billy.
  • Kirk, Seamus.
  • McGrath, Finian.
  • McGrath, Mattie.
  • McLellan, Sandra.
  • Martin, Micheál.
  • Murphy, Catherine.
  • Murphy, Paul.
  • Naughten, Denis.
  • Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
  • Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
  • O'Dea, Willie.
  • O'Sullivan, Maureen.
  • Pringle, Thomas.
  • Smith, Brendan.
  • Tóibín, Peadar.
  • Troy, Robert.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Paul Kehoe and Emmet Stagg; Níl, Deputies Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Dara Calleary.
Question declared carried.

Is the proposal for dealing with No. 40, Houses of the Oireachtas (Appointments to Certain Offices) Bill 2014 - Report and Final Stages, agreed?

It is not agreed. The Minister will be aware that the debate on this legislation would probably conclude in a shorter time than would be achieved by the guillotine being imposed on it. We should oppose all guillotines on legislation given that the Government had promised it would not be used without reason, and there is no reason for its use in this case.

You wasted a lot of time on Friday.

This Bill concerns the staffing of the Houses of the Oireachtas and appointments of certain staff. It has been the subject of a lot of debate. Notwithstanding that Members' contributions on it have been significant and important, we want to see the passage of this legislation through the Houses in order to provide for certain appointments.

Guillotine Joan.

There has been detailed debate on this legislation.

Question, "That No. 40 be agreed to", put and declared carried.
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