Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senators across the board will agree that this voluntarist system has served us well over the years in the resolution of various disputes between workers, worker representatives and employers.

There has been a consensus among the social partners that the terms and conditions of employment of workers are best determined through the process of voluntary bargaining between employers and workers and between employers' associations and trade unions or staff associations. We are fortunate in Ireland in terms of the industrial relations systems we have developed over the years. We should also appreciate that since the introduction of joint labour committees, a comprehensive and evolving suite of employment legislation, including the National Minimum Wage Act, has been introduced for all workers in Ireland. Employment regulation orders, the legally binding instruments resulting from an agreement reached at a joint labour committee, can enhance these statutory minimums.

A stable industrial relations climate is crucial to economic growth in this country. Our industrial relations bodies - the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court - have a strong reputation in resolving even the most intractable disputes. Their work, most of which happens under the radar, is invaluable in supporting jobs and the economy as a whole. Unfortunately, this proposed Bill is flawed and has the potential to greatly disrupt a fully functioning and fit-for-purpose industrial relations mechanism. The Bill, as proposed, does not accord with the voluntarist approach to industrial relations that has existed and been nurtured down the decades. Aside from this ideological criticism, the practical issues which would arise if this Bill were to be enacted are numerous and capable of creating mayhem across all sectors of our economy.

On the basis of the significant problems with this Bill which I have outlined today, I propose that the Bill be rejected.