Richard Boyd Barrett exposes low pay for Oireachtas TV staff
Richard Boyd Barrett criticised the precarious employment of Oireachtas TV workers who are only hired on days the House sits and earn about €12,000 a year, calling for proper retainers and decent jobs. He named the contractor Pi Coms and suggested the company may receive €5–7 million annually while the Oireachtas supplies equipment and paperwork.
Richard Boyd Barrett opened by invoking the programme for government’s language on work-life balance, quality employment and a “secure future for every living creature”, contrasting those ambitions with the reality facing the broadcast workforce.
He said the majority of Oireachtas TV staff are employed only on sitting days and typically earn around €12,000 a year. He described periods with no work during government formation, summer, Easter and Christmas, staff always having to remain available despite low hours and precarious income.
The speaker identified the contractor as Pi Coms and suggested the company may receive €5 or €7 million a year for the contract. He noted that all equipment and paperwork are provided by the Oireachtas, implying the company’s main overhead is paying a workforce with few hours.
He urged that, given the role these workers play in broadcasting parliamentary democracy, they should be given decent jobs and proper retainers rather than living in poverty and precarity. He also noted there are five permanent staff but said the majority remain on low earnings.
Another member replied that the matter is for the entire Oireachtas and the Commission and not a government issue. That speaker said they did not have full background on whether workers are self-employed or how the contract was awarded, and that the issue had not been raised with them previously but would be checked and examined.
Programme for government promises
Richard Boyd Barrett opened by invoking the programme for government’s language on work-life balance, quality employment and a “secure future for every living creature”, contrasting those ambitions with the reality facing the broadcast workforce.
Worker pay and working conditions
He said the majority of Oireachtas TV staff are employed only on sitting days and typically earn around €12,000 a year. He described periods with no work during government formation, summer, Easter and Christmas, staff always having to remain available despite low hours and precarious income.
Contracting arrangements and overheads
The speaker identified the contractor as Pi Coms and suggested the company may receive €5 or €7 million a year for the contract. He noted that all equipment and paperwork are provided by the Oireachtas, implying the company’s main overhead is paying a workforce with few hours.
Calls for retainers and decent jobs
He urged that, given the role these workers play in broadcasting parliamentary democracy, they should be given decent jobs and proper retainers rather than living in poverty and precarity. He also noted there are five permanent staff but said the majority remain on low earnings.
Response in the chamber and next steps
Another member replied that the matter is for the entire Oireachtas and the Commission and not a government issue. That speaker said they did not have full background on whether workers are self-employed or how the contract was awarded, and that the issue had not been raised with them previously but would be checked and examined.
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Transcript
The programme for government refers to work-life balance, quality of life, quality employment. It even has the phrase a secure future for every living creature. Quite a noble ambition. I want to shout out for a group of workers, very close at hand, who don't have any of those things. And they are the majority of people who work for Oireachtas TV and who broadcast these proceedings from this tall chamber, from the Shannon Chamber, from the committees, but who are only employed on the days that we sit. And that means that over the course of the year, they earn about €12,000. Now, imagine trying to exist on €12,000. Imagine over the last three months, as the government was debating who they were going to be in government with and forming governments, not having any work, not knowing when you were going to be able to work, being laid off during the summer, being laid off at Easter, being laid off at Christmas, but having to be always available to work for the company, whose name, by the way, is Pi Coms, who I think, maybe the Taoiseach can confirm the details, I think get €5 or maybe even €7 million a year for this contract. By the way, all the equipment is provided directly by the Oireachtas. All the paperwork is done by the Oireachtas. So the only overheads that we can see for the company is to pay the workforce, who are on these miserable earnings and have very few hours. There are five permanent workers, but the majority of them are living in poverty. Now, I'm asking, given the role they play in projecting out the democracy of this country and the importance of that, that they should have decent jobs, proper retainers, and not having to live in poverty in this precarious existence. Deputy Boyd Barrett's comments, again, that's a matter for the entire Oireachtas. It's not a government issue as such, because the Commission, you know, presumably, just let me, sorry, I don't have the full background to this. I don't know whether these are self-employed contractors or how the company won the contract, but it seems to me to be fundamentally an issue that deputies should raise in the context of the Commission and the organisation of the House. And I don't know whether you have done that or not in the context of the House, but I think... Yeah, but I know, but I mean, I don't... I don't think this issue has been raised with me anyway in the past. It never has been. Yeah, but I'm just wondering, have you... You've been in the House a long time. I'm just wondering whether you... There was only raised with me last week. Fair enough. All right, okay. Anyway, I think it is a matter for the Commission. We will certainly... We'll check it out and examine, see what has happened.