Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators Sherlock and Gavan. I acknowledge the very important role of trade unions. The Government has really put trade unions at the heart of government and has been very involved in social partnership. We have initiated a series of changes to strengthen worker protections and rights since we entered office. These are being rolled out. The plan of action on collective redundancies following insolvency, launched in June 2021, lays out our plans to enhance protections, most importantly to ensure transparency for employees in insolvency circumstances. We have already implemented several of the actions, and this Bill will enhance these.

Regarding Senator Sherlock’s point on the minority CLRG report, we have considered the ICTU response and taken on board some of its suggestions. Creditors are not totally powerless in an insolvency and have options available to them in pursuing their rights. What we are trying to do is work hard to ensure assets are not beyond the reach of creditors, including employees. The Companies Act has several provisions that address this. We will be examining work that the ODCE is doing.We are going to do that. We are very committed to working with the union movement. We are involved in work with them on all sorts of legislation, and not just under an employment framework. We work with them through the social partnership framework and we have regular consultation with them on that. We have taken on board the suggestions that the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, has made on the Company Law Review Group, CLRG, report. I want to acknowledge the work of the CLRG in this space. By taking on board the views of ICTU, we have tried to enhance it as far as possible.