James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary, to the House. I am delighted he is here, hopefully for the duration of the debate.

The stated primary function of the Bill is to promote harmonious relations between workers and employers. However, in light of the current industrial unrest, it will have an uphill struggle, particularly with regard to the proposed amendment by the Minister of State to introduce an inability to pay clause in favour of employers. Since the Bill was debated in the Seanad in September 2009, we have gone through the pain of the December budget and the cutbacks it brought in its wake, which impacted severely on low and middle income earners across the country. Hardly a day goes by without a protest outside the gates of Dáil Éireann. That unrest will continue for the duration of this Government. People are very angry and know, as this side of the House knows, that the Government has no mandate for its outrageous policy and actions over the past two and a half years, since the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, took over as Taoiseach.

From the moment the Government took office in 1997 - we have had a Fianna Fáil-led Government for 20 of the past 22 years - the democratic process has been under fire and the voice of the electorate has been ignored. The Government got no mandate to carry out the attack it is making on the livelihoods of ordinary decent people. The country is on its knees, as we know from speaking to constituents and talking to councillors, business people and employees. This is thanks to the actions of a spendthrift Government that in the years of plenty wasted our resources. I do not want to list the projects on which the Government squandered and wasted money over the years. These are well documented in the House and in national and local media throughout the country. What price democracy when the leader of this free country can impose on the people sanctions which were not in the programme for Government prior to the last election. Fianna Fáil, the so called republican party, has failed to look after the people it purports to represent. In the run up to elections over the years, I have always heard it said that the republican party was always on the side of the worker. This sounds shallow under the current regime.

An elderly lady said to me the other night at a funeral in Ballinamuck that she had voted Fianna Fáil all her life, but that rural Ireland now regarded the Taoiseach as a dictator akin to Stalin and that she would never vote Fianna Fáil again. This is tough talk from a former diehard Fianna Fáil supporter in my county. I know her feelings are replicated in every area and district where Fianna Fáil was strong throughout the country.

The proposed exemption from wage agreements, which will see low-paid workers being asked to accept wage cuts as their bosses claim an inability to pay, is a cutback that relates directly to this debate. There was great mileage made by some in the lead-up to the Lisbon treaty referendum with regard to the adverse impact of a "Yes" vote on the minimum wage. This was categorically denied by the Government, which said that Lisbon had nothing to do with our ability to determine our own minimum wage. That was correct, but the Government had and it has exercised its power by eliminating a safeguard for low paid workers. This is a case where what is sauce for the goose will not be sauce for the gander. It is proposed that hard pressed employers will be able to apply for an exemption from wage agreements. They will need the consent of the majority of workers before they can reduce the hourly rate. However with a gun to their heads, in terms of retaining a job, employees will be forced to comply.

I was interested to hear the Minister of State say this is a temporary measure. This is hard to believe. It is far more likely that the Government is conforming to its norm and this is an introduction of a reduced minimum wage by stealth. We heard all this before from a former Longford-Westmeath Deputy - who later became Taoiseach - former Deputy Albert Reynolds, when he said the arrangement for Government with the Progressive Democrats was a temporary arrangement. We are still living with a relic of that arrangement in the Department of Health and Children, namely, Deputy Mary Harney. We know all about the crisis she has created in the health services. Nobody has a good word to say about her or her actions over the past number of years as Minister for Health and Children.

Any reduction in the minimum wage by stealth would be scandalous. The current minimum wage has been hard fought for and while there is some validity in the reduction of the double time rate for weekend work to time and a third, I would not like to see the minimum wage come under attack. This Bill forces lower and middle income workers to work until they drop and to hand over their earnings to the Exchequer to bail out dodgy builders and developers, many of whom were strong supporters of the Fianna Fáil organisation in the past. Certain sectors, such as the retail, catering and construction sectors are, to an extent, outside the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, but they must comply with employment regulation orders, EROs, and registered employment agreements, REAs, which often stipulate hourly rates in excess of the national minimum wage. It goes without saying that in the current economic crisis the EROs and REAs should come under scrutiny in a fair manner.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has accused the Government of working to drive down wages across all sectors. This is not beyond the realms of possibility given the assault on the public sector which has bled it dry. There is huge anger among the public sector and a go-slow is in operation. We as politicians are very much aware of that as it now takes longer to get a response to telephone calls to various Departments and local authorities throughout the country. Politicians on all sides have complained about this go-slow. This is not good for the country.

While the Government is attempting to differentiate between the ability to pay clause and a potential reduction in the minimum wage, any move towards such a reduction would be another attack on the lowest paid and the most vulnerable. While the inability to pay clause is not actually contained in the Bill, the Minister indicated last September that such a clause was being considered and would be introduced as a Government amendment on Committee Stage. It seems the consideration stage is now past and the Minster firmly intends it to be part of the Bill. While one could definitely argue that this clause is a safeguard that will help to retain people in employment, I am strongly convinced that it could be open to abuse and could be part of the downward spiral towards a reduction in the minimum wage. As I have said before, in the past the Government has been adept at introducing stealth taxes. It seems every time we have gone on holiday or been in recess, the Government has introduced a significant number of stealth taxes.

With regard to the general provisions of the Bill, the Minister has ignored an opportunity to introduce uniform measures regarding the operation of the joint labour committees. Their role in protecting the most vulnerable workers in the economy should be upheld and unified, particularly as many of these workers are not in trade unions.

This Bill has failed to correct the anomalies that exist under the current joint labour committee system, which stems from the introduction of trade boards in 1909. These boards were replaced by joint labour committees in 1946. This Bill provided an ideal opportunity for the Government to ensure the uniform treatment of workers and employers across the country but it failed to do this. The Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, should note this.

Why does the Minister wish to preside over a system that fails to provide uniformity for workers? When the national minimum wage was introduced, the joint labour committee system remained unchanged, despite the national minimum wage commission's recommendation in 1998 that an assessment of the joint labour committees take place in light of the introduction of a national minimum wage. The Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, has taken his eye off the ball and has missed a valuable opportunity. This does not surprise me because the Government has failed to do a single thing right since it took office. Its record is one of failure, betrayal and let-downs for the ordinary people.

The lack of credit, as referred to by the Minister of State, Deputy Billy Kelleher, was caused by the lack of confidence in the Government. The Government crashed the economy, ruining many lives and businesses and resulting in job losses. Listening to Fianna Fáil and Green Party Deputies, one notes they still act as if they were not to blame. The truth is that the people of this country have no confidence in the Government. It is a bit rich of the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, to give a lecture on honesty in the Chamber this evening. The Government has not been honest with the people who gave it the mandate to continue in office after the general election of 2007. The ordinary people will not take lectures about honesty from Fianna Fáil or the Green Party.

The Government has no judgment, vision, leadership or ideas to create new jobs. Very few jobs have been created in the past two years under its aegis. All it has to offer is more of the same, including more cop-outs and, worst of all, more denials of responsibility. People are fed up and the Government has no mandate to continue in office. This has been proven in the past 20 or 25 opinion polls. People have lost faith in the Government. It is in the third-degree category as far as they are concerned. Given its talk of republicanism, it should listen to the voice of the people and get out of office as quickly as possible.

In the past three years, under Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, we have seen a huge loss of confidence in the economy and a dramatic fall in employment. In County Westmeath over the past 12 months, the unemployment rate rose by approximately 37.5%. More than 10,000 people are unemployed in the county, which was always considered to be reasonably prosperous. Similar circumstances obtain in County Longford. The unemployment has been caused by the very bad decisions of Fianna Fáil, the former Progressive Democrats and the Green Party.

Over the years, the Government has targeted the wrong people. Last year in its budget, it targeted the elderly by doing away with the medical card for people over 70. There was a very angry protest, which we all witnessed, outside the House. Fair play to the elderly, they got their way and obtained some concessions.

Students are protesting outside the House today. They are very angry over how they have been treated by the Government. They are totally fed up and feel rejected by it. Since Christmas I have provided 37 references to young people I know in Longford-Westmeath with a view to assisting them to seek a livelihood farther afield. Some are heading to Canada and others have headed to Australia. There is an onus on the State to provide jobs for the people it educates. It is unfair on the parents and relatives of the emigrants that the latter have been forced to leave the country in which they were born and bred to seek a livelihood elsewhere.

We boasted for years about our strong economy and the Celtic tiger running around the country. It has been brought to its knees by the activities of the Government. How can we trust it to enact this and other legislation in a fair manner? I advise the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, to consider asking the Taoiseach and Ministers to go to the Phoenix Park to dissolve the Government. It has no mandate whatsoever to continue in office. That is the cry of the ordinary people. They are very angry and it is time for the Government to consider its position and get out of office. It has lost the trust and confidence of the people. In the name of God, now is the time to go.

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