Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I see young people leaving school to work in supermarkets or the lower ranks of other industries after the leaving or junior certificate and they are treated appallingly. They do not know their rights nor who to turn to for protection. They are not aware they do not have to accept the conditions or the terms of abuse they encounter in their job. Thankfully, we have many good employers in this country but the only way to define the position and treatment of workers is to assign a single department and Minister with responsibility for the development of that area.

I cannot understand how there is a Minister for Agriculture and Food as this Department incorporates the conflict between the producer and the consumer and should be separated. Given the current economic situation, we should have a separate department with responsibility for labour. If the economy needs to move forward at a certain rate, people will be abused and denied their rights.

We must insist on the protection of current rights but also on advancing rights and examining the needs of the future. Pension coverage is a major problem and we should consider the position of workers in the building industry such as masons, plasterers or people who work on scaffolding. Can these people continue to work into their 50s? They cannot as they are physically incapable of doing so. We should assist such people to retrain and seek other employment in their 40s. No Department considers the development of this area and how to make progress. We need to offer a support payment to people who cannot continue in the industry in which they are employed.

The position of women working in McDonald's in their late 50s and 60s is not feasible, although this takes place in America. We must examine how to communicate the need to retrain to people in industries that will not support workers until pensionable age. We should support such people and a department with responsibility for labour would examine such measures.

Society is changing. I remember a time when the unemployment rate in Cork was 18% and 27% in one area. None of us wants to go back to the bad old days; we remember them. Now that we have the time, space and money, however, we should consider the introduction of further rights and greater protection. We should have an information campaign to inform people of their rights or how to demand and protect them where such people cannot rely on organised labour such as trade unions. We should also inform them of their entitlements and how to avail of them. That is what a Department with responsibility for labour would do.

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