Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

A previous Sinn Féin Private Member's motion strongly opposed the privatisation of Aer Lingus. We pointed out then, as we do now, that privatisation invariably leads to lower pay and poorer working conditions. This is the most serious concern in respect of the imminent privatisation of the Great Southern Hotel Group. These State sell-offs are another form of downsizing as far as workers' conditions are concerned.

The Government presents the case that it has successfully blended enterprise and labour in one Department as if it were as easy to blend these two competing, but not always opposing, interests as it was to mould the current Government coalition. Deputies Ardagh and Grealish performed the well-practised Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats two-handed reel of when in doubt, attack Sinn Féin. Unlike their lookalikes, Podge and Rodge, they impressed no one. Their performance was undazzling and as bankrupt as their arguments against the motion presented by Sinn Féin Members.

The reality experienced by workers includes legislation passed but not enforced, growing numbers of their colleagues suffering injury or death due to lax attitudes to health and safety on the part of employers and a Government which waxes lyrical about social partnership while it refuses to intervene as employers intimidate and blacklist workers who wish to be represented by unions. Workers' rights are not an add-on or an optional extra which can be enjoyed at the whim of employers or when the economy allows it. They are basic requirements of a healthy economy and a just society. The right to work is a basic right and we especially remember the workers at the NEC plant in Ballivor in County Meath.

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