Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for facilitating me. This is a very important Bill for the Labour Party. As the Minister knows, the originator of this Bill was the current President. It was Michael D. Higgins who initiated the original version of this Bill. It goes back a while. The spirit of the Bill, with which we all agree, is very important for the people who are affected and the Bill allows them to collectively bargain in respect of their employment, be they musicians, actors, journalists. It does have a dramatic impact.

I thank the Minister, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor for supporting this Bill and bringing it through in a speedy fashion. May I ask that she uses her influence to see if we could get this Bill to Report and Final Stages next week? If the Minister could facilitate the passage of the Bill, it would mean the Bill could be concluded. As she has seen it could go through quickly. The Labour Party Whip has had discussions with the Chief Whip who suggested that she could facilitate us if the passage of the Bill would take less than an hour. I would appreciate if the Minister could use her office to do that.