Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2017
796. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to introduce legislation to address the issue of low hours and zero-hour contracts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9846/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy colleague, Minister Mitchell O’Connor, and I intend to bring forward proposals in response to the Programme for Government commitment to tackle problems caused by the increased casualisation of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious work for consideration by Government. We intend to include protections aimed particularly at low-paid, more vulnerable workers. Our proposals will address the issue of employees 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.
The policy response to the Programme for Government commitment is being informed by the University of Limerick study on zero hour contracts and low hour contracts as well as the extensive material and practical examples provided by respondents to the public consultation on that study conducted by my Department.
Developing policy proposals on employment rights is a complex matter. A balance needs to be found between protecting the rights of employees and avoiding unintended consequences on business which may negatively affect the competitiveness of the Irish economy.
My Department has been engaged in a dialogue process with ICTU and Ibec over an extended period to work through the matters at issue in detail before proposals are finalised. This work is nearing conclusion. The intention is to bring our proposals to Government in Q1 2017.
