Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I too welcome this Bill, which has taken so long to come before the House. I understand the final date for submissions was September 2003 and the intended date for enactment was March 2005. Prior to that, it took about five years to prepare the corresponding EU directive. The Bill comes at the end of a long process. It will provide for the implementation of EU Directive 2002/14 EC and its transposition into Irish law.

We regularly complain about EU legislation but it has not all been bad. In terms of workers' rights and women's rights, for example, much useful legislation has come from Europe. The purpose of this directive is to establish a framework for informing and consulting employees. Information is the key issue. It is important to keep people in the loop because it gives them a sense of ownership. Happier workers are more productive. The directive establishes a right to new minimum standards for workforce communication and involvement in a company's operation.

The basic case for these new standards is fair play for people at work. It is simply not acceptable for employees to be informed by the media that they are to lose their jobs. We have often seen photographs or footage of shocked workers who are told on a Monday morning that their jobs will be gone the following Friday. In such cases, families often find themselves in the tragic situation where a husband and wife, for example, work for the same employer. Such couples may have taken out a mortgage on the basis of the jobs they believed were secure and arranged their lifestyle around a particular standard of living. To be told all that will be taken away in a matter of days is difficult. If there were an obligation that workers must be put on notice and given some information, they might forego the large mortgage or expensive holiday. Statutory redundancy is no substitute for a good weekly wage. Large-scale job losses are generally accompanied by the establishment of a task force to find replacement jobs. To some extent, however, this is merely a way of making the bitter pill a little easier to swallow.

The Bill seems to be very much oriented to the business sector and private companies. However, there is great need for these types of provisions in the public sector. I have encountered cases in the health service, for example, where people are kept in the dark about the services to be provided in different areas. This leads to great cynicism about services and lack of trust between workers and management. Public service workers must also be kept in the loop. The lack of emphasis in this regard may be because the public service is supposed to have processes in place that are in keeping with the essence of the EU directive and the Bill, but I do not agree that is the case. In many elements of the public service, the buzz is to have workers involved in partnerships. That is supposed to facilitate communication, but it is simply not working and is another issue that must be examined.

The general thrust of the Bill seems to be directed towards small and medium sized enterprises. In recent years, local authorities have devised strategic plans in which communications with employers is a major contributory factor in the improvement of performance and productivity in local authorities. A major contributor to the high performing workplace is a climate of mutual trust, confidence and respect. This can only be developed where there is regular and honest communication. There is no doubt that some private sector companies do not have a good record in terms of honest communication. This legislation will help to create an environment where successes can be acknowledged and difficult decisions taken with constructive input from all those affected. If workers are kept informed, it will be found that most have common sense and will bite the bullet when difficult decisions must be made. This legislation can be of benefit in this regard if correctly utilised.

Naturally, employees wish to get adequate financial compensation for their work and proper conditions in which to perform it. However, their views must be recognised and taken into account in the running of a business. Management and owners would do well to take on board the untapped knowledge that exists among employees. Workers who are included are happier and will offer employers good ideas. Nothing gives a worker a greater sense of pride than the knowledge that his or her idea is used and that he or she is respected as an individual.

There is a growing realism in employees' perception of the ongoing challenges facing the organisations for which they work. They recognise that the state of employer-employee relations has an impact on the success of the organisation and are, in the main, prepared to play their part. It is vital that employees are part of mature relationships with employers and that there is a supportive culture rather than a blame culture that can impede progress and innovation. There is no point in management pointing fingers at workers or vice versa. That will achieve nothing. The realisation is growing that a culture of constructive consultation is good for both.

Good information and consultation processes will encourage a sense of belonging and commitment to an organisation. Such a system can contribute to much improved performance in the workplace. There is already a good deal of information sharing and consultation in some companies and that should be left untouched. Such companies already see the value of the type of process we are trying to introduce into legislation. I do not believe it will affect in a negative way any of the good practices which already exist. The legislation will not cut across existing good practice or impose rigid arrangements on many businesses.

The thrust of the legislation appears to be to give the right to information and consultation to those who want it and, in so doing, to support good existing practice. It is obvious that the level and genuineness of consultation will be important. The more trusting the relationship between an employer and his or her employees, the more likely it is that employees will take on board new responsibilities and help to address the problems of companies. Other benefits which will accrue from the provision of information and consultation will include improvements in employee contributions, such as increased productivity and greater involvement in solving problems and generating new ideas. Direct forms of information and communication include team briefings, newsletters, notice boards and the Intranet.

While consultation mechanisms normally vary, consultation and negotiation generally take place with representatives of recognised trade unions. If consultation is not firmly based on dialogue, it will be a one-way process and might lead to resentment and a lack of engagement. The biggest obstacle to the development of meaningful dialogue is when both parties enter discussions with entrenched positions and without any interest in reaching agreement. How often have we heard that parties have been locked in Labour Court talks for many months, whereas an official is running between a group sitting in one room at the court and another group sitting in a different room? While that is an extreme example, it beggars belief that such behaviour can be described as dialogue or a form of talks. People should see such behaviour for what it is, which is the opposite of good or useful practice. A great deal of the Labour Court's time is spent dealing with groups which are not engaging in dialogue.

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