Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

As I stated on Committee Stage, it took a considerable amount of work to bring section 6 to the stage at which it appears in the legislation. It is a balanced provision. As I stated earlier, it provides a role for trade unions in the legislation, which is more than can be said for the directive.

I am concerned about the impact of any of Deputy Morgan's amendments or all of them taken together. The provisions of section 6 as it is presented are extraordinarily well-balanced and allow for trade union representation on a pro rata basis when people in trade unions work in the undertaking. The members of the forum must be employees of the undertaking and that is entirely in accordance with best democratic principles.

If any of these amendments were to be accepted, it would seriously unbalance section 6, which took an enormous amount of work and which accounts to a great extent for the delay in coming forward with the legislation in the first place. As I stated on Committee Stage, I am not disposed to undermine in any way the provisions here.

In one of the amendments, Deputy Morgan refers to the Labour Court. That is provided for in section 6(5), which states that where a dispute arises under this section, it may be referred by the employer, trade union, excepted body or one or more than one employee to the Labour Court. That is a good safeguard in the event of difficulties with regard to the provisions of this section.

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