Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I will pursue that matter again. The Taoiseach told the House on 26 October, that the Attorney General was looking at a legal way to address this issue. Will the Minister of State give the House a progress report on that? Given the degree of urgency which should be attached and which I thought the Government attached to this issue which is the foundation of our economy in terms of the social partnership model that has worked effectively for 18 years now, if the social partnership is under threat because of the actions of one sole rogue operating company, surely we should have a definitive view as to whether legal action is possible at this stage. What views, even in a preliminary way, has the Attorney General given to the Minister of State on this issue? What is the status of the commitment given by the Taoiseach to examine the Labour Party Bill, which has been examined by international lawyers and seems to be a workable solution?

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