Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the proposer of this Bill, Deputy Willie O'Dea. As the Deputy knows, the Government will not be opposing the taking of Second Stage. I accept the intention behind Deputy O'Dea's Bill is in good faith and that the Bill attempts to protect vulnerable workers. However, as the Taoiseach said earlier, our legal advice is absolutely crystal clear in that the Bill as drafted is not robust enough to deal with the problem he seeks to solve. While the intentions are good, unfortunately, the Bill is not adequate.

It has been known for some time that this system has been vulnerable to legal challenge. The first challenge was commenced in 2008. This Bill is largely modelled on a Bill, the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2009, which was introduced in April 2009 by the Government, of which Deputy O'Dea was a member, following that challenge. The aim of that Bill was to protect the joint labour committee, JLC, system and to provide a robust shield. However, the Bill did not proceed beyond Second Stage which was completed in February 2010, despite the presence of the legal challenges. It is surprising it was not included in its legislative programme and the Government instead prioritised a Bill to cut the national minimum wage and this was implemented. I accept the good faith of Deputy O'Dea who is striking his chest and saying: "Mea culpa, we changed our minds; I was wrong then and I am a different person now". It is difficult not to be a little cynical. The Bill was in existence and could have been implemented by the previous Government but instead it decided to push ahead with a cut in the national minimum wage.

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