Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and her officials for being here this morning. We welcome the SEO. These things take a long time; sometimes unnecessarily so. In the last portion of her submission, the Minister of State said that the SEO will be binding across the sector. I speak to people within the trade union movement on a very regular basis and while it is not massively widespread, there are pockets of noncompliance with the SEO. It is not just in construction but we are talking about construction this morning. Could the Minister outline for us how this is going to be enforced? The best way for any worker to enforce an SEO is to be a member of and be active in his or her trade union, and ensure he or she has his or her rights at work vindicated. However, we are also sitting here knowing that trade union density in the construction sector is not huge. With regard to making sure the Minister of State lives up to that statement, if it is binding across the sector, can she outline for us the steps that will be taken?