Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Two months ago, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation received the Walsh-Duffy report on the operations of the joint labour committees, JLCs. Instead of implementing an expert report which recommended widespread reform, he followed what the Taoiseach described as his personal agenda. The objections of a small number of Labour Party backbenchers were loud but the Minister's handlers assured the media that he win through with his plans to radically wind down protections for low paid workers under the JLC scheme.

When the High Court struck down the legislation for this scheme, it was interesting to see how quickly the Government moved to rule out taking protective action. There is to be no notice of appeal nor will proposals be forthcoming until the autumn or winter. The judgment is not complicated and does not require lengthy study but the Minister appears to insist on restoring some of the protection for vulnerable workers only if his personal agenda is accepted. The problem with this approach is that as many as 200,000 people are currently without a wide range of employment protections and many could see major reductions in their pay and conditions before the Government legislates sometime at the end of the year. I assure the Taoiseach it is not a lifestyle choice these workers want to make.

This week my party laid before the House a Bill which would enable the introduction of employment protection orders for 200,000 workers. If the Taoiseach supports it, he can bring other reforms at a later stage but at least low paid workers will have the reassurance of protection in the meantime. Will he agree to support this Bill and protect these workers?

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