Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will refer to heads 14 and 26 and Part 2 of the scheme and will make some general comments.

I welcome the Minister of State to the committee and wish him luck in dealing with this complex area. The key issue in regard to the failure of the Industrial Relations Act 1946 relates to Article 15.2.1° of the Constitution. How confident is the Minister of State in regard to this Bill? He said in his remarks that he expects the Bill to withstand constitutional challenge, but is he confident that the work he and his officials have done is robust enough to withstand constitutional challenge, or will we have to take the same road again in a year or two, particularly in regard to Article15.2.1°? I refer specifically to head 14, which allows the Labour Court to initiate a review on the basis of whether employers and unions both agree. Is there a danger that section 14 could be in breach of Article 15.2.1° of the Constitution?

Head 26 deals with situations in which the employer's business is experiencing "severe economic difficulties". I welcome that, but what exactly does it mean and what is the test for "severe economic difficulties"? What process exists for a company to engage in and what role will workers in the company play? What role can competitors who may see a company using this provision for competitive advantage play?

In regard to part 2 of the overall scheme, the Minister of State used the words "substantially representative". What is the test of "substantially representative"? For instance, the construction sector employs tens of thousands of people, but at what stage does one say a particular union or group is substantially representative of that sector? The same question goes for the retail sector and for other large areas of employment. What process will define what "substantially representative" means?

The committee is fortunate to have received good documentation from the Oireachtas Library and Research Service on the Bill, but significant detail is missing, as always happens in regard to heads of a Bill. I have found over the years that it is the detail that is used to frustrate the implementation of the legislation, be that on the employers' or the unions' side. When will we get a sense of the exact details on the legislation from the Minister of State? Will we have those details before Second Stage of the Bill?

One of the major issues of the previous JLC and REA system was that it caused many businesses on this side of the Border, particularly in the construction sector, to be uncompetitive in comparison with those on the other side of the Border which did not face this legislation.

There was the lack of a willingness on the part of NERA to enforce the various directives that were in place. Has the Minister of State given any thought to addressing that issue and on a European basis also?