Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

On the first question, the present system already allows a registered employment agreement to replace a JLC. The form of collective bargaining envisaged is clearly a trade union bargaining with employers. This is the current definition. The issue of whether that would go further is contentious and on which there are different views between the social partners. It will require to be considered when drafting final proposals. As Deputy O'Dea rightly remarked, many of the JLCs are in areas where either employer recognition of unions is low or trade union organisation is low, but it is not a case of straightforward agreement and it will require a bit of thought before we reach a conclusion.

The compliance with the European Court of Human Rights judgment arose out of a judgment in the United Kingdom where, to paraphrase, a court judged that employers were giving priority to people who were not members of a trade union and in certain circumstances were deemed to have been victimising those who opted to join a trade union. The court found that the British law in that case was in contravention of human rights. The issue has arisen to proof our legislation against any similar frailty. This is my understanding of the matter.

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