Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Yes. They argued it would be useful if agencies such as CERT, the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court were all brought together and that it would resolve issues of competitiveness or that fed from competitiveness. I believe I was the last Minister for Labour and many years have passed since that change was made. At the time, it was strongly argued that the change was both desirable and modernising.

I do not have a fixed view on the issue. I believe I was the longest-serving Minister for Labour in the State and in that job, one found oneself working alongside other Departments, which was no bad thing. The Department of Finance was responsible for public sector pay and I used to cover the issue. It used to be called the Department of Finance and the Public Service and even though I was Minister for Labour, I dealt with that sector. I also dealt with some of the health and safety areas that were the responsibility of other Departments.

More importantly, as the Public Service Management Act 1997 recognised, if a cross-departmental range exists for a particular issue, the workings of the cross-departmental committees are probably more important because one never encounters a Department which embraces all the aspects of an issue. I do not state that a Department of Labour would not be a good idea again in the future. However, it would be obliged to take over many areas of responsibility from other Departments. For example, health and safety is now a major issue everywhere and FÁS and CERT continue to operate. Industrial relations fall under the aegis of that Department but function independently through the Labour Relations Commission, the Labour Court and the rights commissioner service. The question is whether bringing them all back together again would be better. Unlike a decade ago, I have not been working closely enough with the area to know whether the idea is worthy of consideration.

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