Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

——and I know what is in the Towards 2016 agreement, which the Government has already torn up, so I do not see why it should expect employers and employees to follow it.

This is a disaster. This country is haemorrhaging jobs, we are on the edge of an abyss and it is possible that in a few months time we will not be able to make out debt payments or even pay our own salaries. At the coalface are those industries covered by EROs in retail, hotels, restaurants, security, construction and agriculture. These industries are losing jobs because they cannot meet the terms of the employment regulation orders and they cannot meet the pay increases the Government will not pay but is making them pay. The Government must make the decision to change the system, review the existing employment regulation orders and make JLCs equal so there is a level playing field between employees and employers with no voting rights for the independent chair.

If the Government will not do that, Fine Gael will introduce to the House a Bill to achieve it. If the Government wants to destroy every shop, every security industry and construction site,——

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