Fianna Fáil is proposing a private members' motion in the Dáil to regulate the use of au pairs in Ireland.
Deputy Anne Rabbitte said at present there is no legal definition of au pairs and a recent Workplace Relations Commission ruling threatened to undermine the whole tradition of au pairing.
She said it had effectively criminalised thousands of families. The majority of au pair relationships are not exploitative, she added.
However, she acknowledged there had been exploitation in the past and said that is why legislation was needed.
20,000 families who use au pairs were terrified they were breaking the law, she said. There are more than 50 cases awaiting adjudication before the commission.
She said her bill clearly defined what was "not au pairing" and provided protection for domestic workers, wrongly taken in under the guise of au pairs.
The bill outlaws the practice of au pair exchange websites, without an intermediary.
Ms Rabbitte said the bill would allow for written agreements, defining the duties and hours.
The bill would limit the hours worked by au pairs to 30 hours.
She said while the idea of providing pocket money had been criticised, she said the WRC ruling did not take into account the value of accommodation and hospitality.
Later she said the essence of the bill focuses on the cultural educational exchange, not the employer-employee relationship.
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs appealed to those supporting the bill to "look again at what is being proposed".
Katherine Zappone said exempting au pairs from employment law runs contrary to the ruling of the WRC, the National Minimum Wage Act as well the Court of Justice of the European Union.
She said the Fianna Fáil bill seeks to distinguish Ireland as being the only country in Europe which does not have a legal definition for au pair - while ignoring the definition the EU courts have put on employment.
The Government and Sinn Féin are not supporting the bill.
Minister of State Pat Breen criticised the proposals, saying there was an absence of an upper age limit in the bill.
He said it envisaged people of all ages working in return for board and lodgings, adding that the pocket money could be as low as a euro.
Mr Breen said childcare could be delivered under the current minimum wage legislation, taking into account board and lodgings.
He intended to ask the Low Pay Commission to examine the value of board of lodgings, he said.
The bill would not protect host families from a challenge that their au pair was an employee, he said.
Minister Breen said Ireland ratified a domestic worker's convention in July 2014 and the Fianna Fáil bill would reverse this and cause reputational damage.
He said the bill was silent on employment law. He added that a number of European Court of Justice rulings had adjudicated that au pairs are workers.
Sinn Féin's Maurice Quinlivan said Irish employment legislation applied to all workers, regardless of their title.
He said his party favoured regulation of the sector, but did not support Fianna Fáil's bill.
The definition in the bill was too vague and did not clarify the duties, he added.
Independents4Change TD Thomas Pringle described the bill as "outdated and irrelevant", and said it was a flawed concept.
However, Rural Alliance TD Mattie McGrath welcomed the bill, saying it is important that the au pair sector is protected.
