Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I am glad Deputy Higgins is associated with such people, which is par for the course. The constitution continues; there will not be any change to it or renegotiation of it.

The kind of issues to which the Deputy referred in regard to social dialogue were precisely the issues that the convention debated and got into the constitution for the first time. The European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC, did a good job. We worked closely with it, making sure the issues of social dialogue, protection for workers and respect for public services were promoted. The work of the Irish Government in this regard was widely acknowledged by ETUC at European level. I am shocked to find the Deputy is so totally out of touch with what was negotiated one year ago.

See this speech in context