Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

It is mainly men who work in the company. Some of them have 35 or 40 years' experience with Bord na Móna as opposed to Mr. Donnellan's two. They have consistently worked in an arena where a group of unions represented their interests. I believe Mr. Donnellan is familiar with that group of unions because Bord na Móna signed a collective agreement in June or July 2019. A number of issues remain outstanding - I am sure Mr. Donnellan is familiar with all this. Issues relating to retirement age, seasonal working arrangements, flexible ways of working and the training and upskilling of workers are in dispute with the group of unions. If there is a dispute with unions in a company where people have 30 or 40 years of service, there is a structure there where the unions go to a State apparatus, known as the Workplace Relations Commission. I am not trying to lecture Mr. Donnellan; I am just trying to spell it out. Why is Bord na Móna refusing to go to the Workplace Relations Commission when four or five key issues affecting workers with a long service are outstanding?