Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

During the debate last week I outlined the reasons I felt that paragraphs (g) and (h) of amendment No. 8 should be placed on page 14 in the objectives of the new Dublin transport authority.

Amendment No. 67 also refers to the rights of workers. In particular, it seeks to ensure that the transfer of undertakings rights would apply to transport workers in relation to the operation of the new agency and the possible transfer of officials and salaried workers between different agencies.

With regard to the public service contract I seek, on page 41 of the Bill, between lines nine and ten, to include the following: "the obligation on the public transport operator to comply with all employment legislation is specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Employment Law Compliance Act 2008 and any instruments specified in Part II of Schedule 1 of the said Act, and employment regulation Orders and registered employment agreements within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Acts, 1946 to 2004". I attended a large meeting of transport workers last night organised by the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, TSSA. Grave concern was expressed about measures in the employment law consolidation Bill and about the possibility that the transfer of undertakings which is specified in the EU Transfer of Undertakings ( Protection of Employees) Regulations 2003, under SI 131/2003, would not apply to transfers between the existing transport agencies and the new DTA. The directive sets out the rights of employees very clearly. There is a fear among public transport workers that their rights and conditions of employment will be sacrificed if the DTA is set up without a provision such as the one outlined in amendment No. 67.

The amendment also seeks to add to the public transport service contract a further requirement that "the public transport operator shall be required to grant work staff previously taken on to provide services, the rights to which they would have been entitled if there had been a transfer within the meaning of Directive 2001/23/EC together with all pension rights and entitlements of the said staff with the previous public transport operator.". This paragraph seeks to further amplify the necessity to ensure that workers in existing agencies in the public transport area are protected when the new DTA comes into operation. It is quite clear from the many meetings I have attended on behalf of the Labour Party with stakeholders, including commuters, cyclists, pedestrians, public and private transport operators, chambers of commerce and so forth, that people are concerned that as the DTA evolves, it will become a very powerful body. It represents a major break with the past in terms of administration in Ireland, given that it will be a regional structure. The DTA will function almost as a regional government structure. That is why the amendments concerning accountability to which I referred on the Order of Business are so important.

It is also critical that the rights of workers are protected and clearly laid down. That is important, not just in the public sector but also in the private sector, given the concern that some private operators might cut corners and that it is harder to invigilate the protection of private sector workers, particularly those who do not belong to a trade union. We must try to lay down some basic ground rules for their protection and I have sought to do so in the aforementioned amendments.

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