Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

With regard to a "no strike" clause for essential services, in 1992 under section 42 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990, the LRC, following consultation with the ICTU and IBEC, prepared a code of practice on dispute procedures, including procedures for essential services. The code is designed to assist employers and trade unions in making agreements that recognise the rights and interests of the parties concerned and contains procedures that will resolve issues in a peaceful manner and avoid the need for the parties to resort to actions that would lead to a disruption of supplies and services. This voluntary approach has worked very well in general since it was put in place. I encourage unions and management in as many companies and essential services as possible to adopt this approach. However, if a number of workers intend to be as disruptive as possible, all the no strike clauses in the world will not help, whether they are voluntary or provided for in legislation. It is not up to an individual company or union to negotiate such a clause. The way to approach this is to discuss such a provision at partnership rather than having it imposed by a Minister or a company.

The Deputy asked about the total number of drivers involved. One driver refused to work and he was followed by 12 others who went out in sympathy with him. The following day a number of drivers in Athlone, Galway and Westport joined the unofficial stoppage in sympathy with the Cork drivers. I am not sure about the total number of drivers involved nor am I sure about the total number employed by Iarnród Éireann.

On a related issue, the union has sought reduced working hours for drivers and the company has attempted to train additional drivers in order that the agreement on reduced hours could be put in place. A number of drivers have as little as two hours training to complete and, therefore, the action is not only causing problems for passengers, it is also causing problems for the company and the drivers who would like to work more regular rostered hours. It is causing them difficulty because the new drivers cannot be deployed, which is regrettable. I hope sense will prevail and the drivers who are causing major disruption will think a little more about commuters and resume the provision of a quality customer service on the routes in question.

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