Ms Patricia King:

I would argue that this is going to be one of the most difficult consequences of Brexit, particularly if there is no deal on what has been described as the level playing pitch. Workers' rights are one of the key issues under that heading and if the UK Government wishes to legislate for and introduce its own suite of measures relating to workers' rights- a desire it has expressed previously - that will put enormous pressure on companies trading with the UK, post Brexit and will, in turn, mean pressure on workers. If the UK has lesser terms and conditions, pressure will fall on those companies in Ireland with a trading relationship with the UK to emulate those terms and conditions on a labour costs basis. In my judgment, that has huge potential to cause great fractiousness between workers and employers. It will also probably heighten industrial dispute issues. It will be a new dawn in one sense because while the UK was in Europe, the Single Market meant we never had to deal with such issues because the playing pitch was level. If it becomes uneven, that will be very fractious from our point of view. Again, I must say I am disappointed that nobody at central level is having any discussion with us about this. We do not know whether an agreement will be reached this week which will avoid the consequences outlined by Senator Gavan, but if there is no agreement there is huge potential for fractiousness in the Irish labour market.