Mr. Liam Berney:

On the engagement with State agencies, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has engaged with Fáilte Ireland and especially during the development of return to work protocols to ensure Fáilte Ireland was aware of the concerns of workers. There has been engagement with it but there is more work Fáilte Ireland could do.

On the question of the involvement with the WRC, and I believe Dr. Curran referred to this earlier, the WRC would be happy to do work such as that described by Senator Cassells. It is important to remember, however, that the WRC is severely understaffed with regard to inspectors. The commission has 47 inspectors where it is supposed to have a complement of more than 90 inspectors. The WRC is wholly inadequate in its resources.

The joint labour committees, JLCs, functioned in the sector up until the mid-1990s and the early 2000s, and they functioned very well. Employers took the view that they wanted to turn this sector into a low-paid sector, and they decided to veto the function of joint labour committees. Joint labour committee have always worked in the sector, despite the complexity of the sector, and they can work in the future. I would encourage the Oireachtas to ensure the flaw in the legislation is corrected as soon as practicable.