SIPTU representatives have welcomed an announcement that the Dáil Public Accounts Committee will review the contract for video and audio coverage of Oireachtas proceedings, which has been requested by Union members employed to provide this service.
SIPTU Organiser, Robbie Purfield, said: “Our members providing this service do so as part of a private sector contract. They find themselves in a situation where their employment is only for the periods when the Oireachtas sits. According to the terms of the competitive tender the company providing the service is paid by the minute for recording Oireachtas sessions.
“This tendering process, and the resulting contractual arrangement, has resulted in our members being placed in the obviously unsatisfactory situation where they must seek alternative employment or social welfare during the weeks when the Oireachtas is not in session.”
Oireachtas Broadcast Unit worker and SIPTU member, Keith McEvoy, told the Irish Independent, “I’ll be signing on because I have no income at all during the summer. It doesn’t feel right. I’m signing on for benefits from the Government even though I work in the houses where the Government is based.”
He added: “Luckily I have some savings, but there’s no sustainability for the next two months. Some TDs have said if they get paid over the summer, then why can’t workers like us get paid? A lot of excuses are being made for a really bad situation that’s going on at the moment.”
Purfield added: “We have meet with their employer on several occasions to deal with issues concerning our members contracts and pay. However, the ability of any progress being made on these issues is largely curtailed by the terms of the contract between the company and the Houses of the Oireachtas.”
“We support our members in their demand for an end to this precarious contracting system which results from the tendering policy of the House of Oireachtas rather than any commercial decision of the contracted company. Given the importance of the work our members do in recording the events of the Oireachtas a more satisfactory employment situation must be found.”