Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

As I stated, the major issue in these talks has been getting agreement on an enforcement system and new arrangements to deal with workers and employers and the issues that came to light in some of the disputes the Deputy mentioned. Discussion on this issue has been long and arduous over a period of several weeks. There is always some big issue in every social partnership agreement, and this is the big issue in these talks. While progress has been made on many other questions in the economic, social and development strands of the talks, the big issue has been to see if the social partners can find a way to balance the protection of workers' rights with the need to deal with the issues of flexibility, competition and foreign direct investment and to agree on a system with which both sides can live. Obviously, there are different points of view and people have to argue a case on behalf of those they represent. All the efforts of officials of my Department have been focused on trying to bridge the gap and get a solution which the Government believes it can work through its various agencies and which it can make stick in the wider economy.

All the published reports, including the NESF report, show that demographic change will continue and a large number of people will continue to come here. Whatever the figures, different reports on immigration matters indicate that a substantial number of people will arrive here and we must ensure they as well as our own workforce are protected. The big issue is whether that is possible. Ultimately, the Government will decide what legislative measures will be put forward but we will make our determination on this before the talks with the social partners. However, regulation of the labour market is most effective when the provisions have the support of the social partners. That is what we are endeavouring to secure and why we have been encouraging them to find an agreed position in the current talks. That has the best likelihood of fitting into an agreement.

Obviously, what is agreed in the social partnership process relates to issues that are put forward by the social partners and the Government. Some of the issues raised by the Deputy are not in the social partnership context but are broader issues of the economy. The Minister is working on the energy policy Green Paper, which will be published shortly. In so far as people work to co-operate and deal with some of the challenges of the future, if it is in the social partnership agreement, all the better.

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