Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Reilly for her question and her kind wishes. We look forward to working with all Members across the House. As we have demonstrated in previous Departments, working relationships are very important. I and the Ministers of State, Deputies Higgins and Calleary, will do our very best in our respective roles.

The Labour Employer Economic Forum's sub-group on employment and enterprise has two groups under its auspices dealing with collective bargaining matters. The first group, chaired by the Minister of State with responsibility for business, employment and retail, is concerned with the implementation of the LEEF high-level working group's recommendations on collective bargaining. The second group, chaired by my official, is tasked with the preparation of an action plan on enabling conditions for collective bargaining as required by the directive on adequate minimum wages.

The implementation group on the high-level working group's recommendations on collective bargaining met on 16 November 2023. Several of the recommendations of the high-level working group's recommendations on collective bargaining are already being implemented, as follows: the Workplace Relations Commission, following a request from the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is now engaged with the social partners to draft a code of practice for good faith engagement; the Workplace Relations Commission has also been in contact with the social partners regarding the training recommendations in the report; and the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, wrote to the chair of the Labour Court on 18 January requesting that the court consider preparing rules, in consultation with the social partners, to govern the use of technical assessors by the court. The Labour Court has also been asked to consider whether the membership of the joint labour committees should be reviewed.

Two proposals arising from the LEEF high-level working group's recommendations on collective bargaining require significant legal changes: good faith engagement at enterprise level with statutory penalties; and the roles of the Labour Court if a joint labour committee cannot convene due to non-participation of one of the parties. My officials are now engaging on these issues in more detail with the Office of the Attorney General.

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