Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I join in the welcome for this Government amendment as a co-sponsor of the initial amendment alongside Senator O'Toole and having spoken on the issue on Second and Committee Stages in the belief that the unions should be part of any consultative process, public or otherwise, as important stakeholders. I would have preferred the explicit use of the word "union" and I see no reason it should not be the case, but I welcome the amendment as achieving the same objective. I am not sufficiently expert in linguistic nuances to know the implications of Senator Ryan's concerns, but I am prepared to support him in his comments. His proposal is worth consideration, as it would specifically give workers' representatives a voice. I shall leave it at that, but I welcome it in that it is achieving one of our objectives. As I have said repeatedly, our sole objective is to shape this legislation in a fashion that maintains the integrity, quality and strength of the existing service and personnel. This is a step in the right direction, but many more will be needed as well.