Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

There are no proposals in the Government's legislative programme that would require an employer to recognise a trade union or compel an employer to engage in collective bargaining with a union. While Article 40 of the Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to form associations and unions, it has been established in a number of legal cases that the constitutional guarantee of freedom of association does not guarantee workers the right to have their union recognised for the purpose of collective bargaining.

There is a commitment in the programme for Government to ensure that Irish law on employees' rights to engage in collective bargaining is consistent with recent judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. This process will require consultation with stakeholders, including employer and worker representatives, and a review of the operation of the existing legislative framework as put in place under the Industrial Relations Acts 2001 and 2004 and the consequences of the litigation that has arisen in the course of the operation of those Acts.

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