Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

In the last number of days, the Labour Party has urged that intervention in this strategically important industry be undertaken at the earliest possible opportunity. The industrial action taken by more than 10,000 members of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union, TEEU, is a serious development which could have significant consequences for industrial relations. As was pointed out earlier today by my party leader, the dispute will have a knock-on effect on building sites and on employment generally. As the Tánaiste has said, this is the first major strike in the private sector for some time and it comes in a period of significant economic difficulty for the country. If it is allowed to drag on, it could lead to lay-offs of workers not directly involved in the dispute. Important issues are involved in the dispute for employers and workers and these issues will have to be resolved at some stage by face-to-face dialogue and discussion. It is in everyone's interest that this process of dialogue begins now rather than at the end of a prolonged and costly strike.

This morning I listened carefully to Mr. Eamon Devoy and Mr. Tom Parlon discussing the matter on the radio. There is no point in coming to talks but sitting on one's hands and saying nothing. There must be an element of compromise. From what I heard Mr. Devoy saying this morning, the TEEU is ready to come to talks but there must be a show of positivity. The country does not need a strike. Neither does it need employers arbitrarily undermining registered agreements. All strikes are settled. The time to intervene in this strike is now.

The Labour Party has pointed out that there are powers in the Act which were envisaged for precisely this purpose. Section 38 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990 gives the Minister the power to refer a dispute to the Labour Court or the Labour Relations Commission when the public interest is affected. The Minister is now in continual contact with the Labour Relations Commission. There cannot be a more important public interest than the protection of jobs and the maintenance of an important service. No one doubts the importance of this dispute and the intervention of the Minister is clearly justified.

I listened carefully to the discussion on the radio this morning. Is it not time that REAs were simplified so that everyone has a clear understanding of what is involved in them and their impact on the issues involved? There should be no room for ambiguity. No one should be able to argue that an award is X% while someone else argues that it is X+1%. Earlier, I asked the Tánaiste about the progress of the Industrial Relations Bill. Such clarification would be an important function of such a Bill. The rationalisation of the joint labour committees, JLCs, and the implementation of other measures are important. However, the strengthening of the existing REA system providing for its continued effective operation would ensure that REAs are clear and unambiguous and that everyone understands their effect. This would widen the number of people involved in the REA system. Operational procedures must be improved and the nomination of chairpersons of JLCs should, obviously, follow consultation with social partners.

The Labour Party would support every effort to use the industrial relations machinery to resolve this dispute. Everyone must show willingness to enter talks. Participants must not come to talks with nothing to offer. They must be prepared to be positive in discussions.

If the sum awarded had been paid in 2008 a new REA would reflect the economic conditions pertaining currently. We cannot hark back but I call on all sides to talk. From our contacts with the trade unions, I know that they are eager to progress matters but it takes two to tango and there is no use in starting with preconceived ideas about cutting things off and so on. I appeal for a compromise that will ensure a return to work for everyone involved, from the bodies in question to other affected parties. We need people working at Dublin Airport, the new facility at Lansdowne Road and so on. Everyone should sit down in a positive framework and not set in advance conditions or bottom lines beyond which they will not go. The latter is not the way to start proper and positive negotiations.

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