Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

In fairness to members of the trade union movement, they have made a distinction between the situation in this dispute and the issue of social partnership. Confirming whether we can continue with social partnership depends on several issues which are not germane in this dispute. However, there are certain issues in this matter that the trade unions would like to see resolved satisfactorily.

The protection of employment law and standards is an important goal of public policy. We do not want to revive a low-wage economy and, in particular, we do not want to foster social division by having jobs transformed from decent employment for Irish citizens to low-paid positions targeted at migrant workers. The Government has invested in good employment standards and it is not prepared to see it replaced by short-sighted and exploitative decisions.

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