Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

There is social partnership, the Labour Court, the Labour Relations Commission, the national implementation body, industrial relations mediators and consultants. With that extensive industrial relations machinery in the State I do not understand how we end up with a threatened strike that will close down our airports next week. Will the Tánaiste and the relevant Minister do what is necessary to bring the parties before a third party to sort out the problem?

When I asked the Tánaiste last week when Second Stage of the Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill will come from his Department to the House he said he was holding off on that because he wanted to incorporate amendments arising from recommendations made last July in the report of the Standards in Public Office Commission. Since then, my attention has been drawn to a reply he gave to Deputy Burton on 30 January last in which he rejected these recommendations and indicated that he would bring forward on Committee Stage only technical amendments arising from that report. Will he clarify whether he is accepting the recommendations of the Standards in Public Office Commission and will he bring forward amendments to give effect to them? If not, why is Second Stage being held up for matters that can be dealt with on Committee Stage?

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