Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

It is an interesting discussion. It is clear there are short-term incentives and interventions that need to be taken to ensure the sustainability of businesses to keep them open and then there are long-term things that need to be done. I was pleased to see my favourite economist Mariana Mazzucato quoted in the opening statement. I very much share her vision. The vision set out in Mission Economy and The Big Con exposes a lot of the things that have left us in the situation we are in. When I think about an all-island economy and an economy after a united Ireland, it is very much in terms of what she projects and advocates. Other economists have too but she has a particular vision and identifies where we need to be in the long term and the mistakes made in the past. I wonder are we really going to address the issues we have now without pulling back in the long term and having a proper vision. How can that be addressed?

I was glad to see ICTU pushing collective bargaining. I encourage employers to look at the value of collective bargaining. We have the right to be part of a union in the Constitution. What came across in the discussion today in the audiovisual room is what is the point in having the right to join a union if there is no obligation on employers to do that? On the relationship between employers and employees, some of the larger companies welcome it and others do not. There is no common sense in that space. There is an opportunity in imposing the directive to get this right. It will benefit workers and employers. I am concerned about item 43 as a priority in the action plan on competitiveness and productivity: "Introduce a red tape challenge across government to significantly reduce regulation for SMEs." I agree absolutely with getting rid of red tape but it also states, "This would include a review by each Government Department to identify regulations to be removed or reduced". That concerns me in terms of workers' rights and environmental rights. Where are we going? Are we on a race to the bottom? We have this space where we can really reset things. There is an opportunity but there are also huge risks. It goes back to being led by industries rather than having the expertise in government to have a longer-term vision. Does Mr. Gibbons share that concern about that space being used to erode workers' rights, environmental rights and the progress we have made?