Mr. Brian Nolan:

That is fair enough. Apologies.

Omitting names, the debate is on universal application. The examples given were primarily on the basis that with the REAs in place we discovered breaches of not just the registered employment agreements, but of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997; the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 to 1993; the REA for the Electrical Contracting Industry; the Payment of Wages Act, 1991; the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994; and the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000. The mechanism delivered by the registered employment agreements allowed us to address those. While they are not directly covered by the registered employment agreement, the existence of this agreement allowed us to access these workers, uncover their story and remedy the situation. There have been several other examples of that, which I will abstain from naming, but they are well documented and most people know about them anyway.

We are concerned that since the Supreme Court judgement of last year, and with judgements such as Rüffert and Laval, there is a void in the system we have at present. The TEEU has taken a case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on the void created in relation to collective bargaining. I referred to Rüffert and Laval as two examples and Laval could highlight that there is a recognition of the right to collective bargaining, but in Ireland we hold the firm view that Supreme Court judgements have been detrimental and created a deficit in the recognition of collective bargaining rights. That is why the union has taken the case. The TEEU, in the absence of legislation supporting REAs, welcomes the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill as a means to at least restore some elements of workers' rights to an appropriate level of remuneration, sick pay and pension commensurate with their knowledge, skill and experience.

We have highlighted some of the heads of Bill with minor alterations but our major concern is the significant deficiency in the Bill relating to the enforcement of the terms of the order. The National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, does not have the capacity to manage such a task, which will have a negative effect on the legislation. The impact of the legislation would not be felt, and that would be detrimental to employers, workers, and all involved in the industries.

We seek confirmation that the legislation or orders will apply to agency workers. There is currently a massive effort on the part of some agencies to undermine the industries and workers. There are many industrial disputes and there is much unrest because of unscrupulous recruitment agencies. These are undermining the employers, not only the employees.

By and large, I have outlined the views documented in our submission. I invite members to raise anything they wish me to talk about further.