Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

It is important to set the record straight and take a moment to outline how we ended up debating this Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill. If the issue of JLCs and employment regulation orders had been properly and adequately dealt with by the previous Government, the issue would have been resolved for the 190,000 families who now face the stress of dealing with the outworking of the High Court ruling on the joint labour committees.

The previous Government, however, did what Fianna Fáil does best, and spoke out of both sides of its mouth. A Bill was drafted but was never brought to completion. Fianna Fáil, not being for real, failed to show the political will to proceed with the Bill. A vacuum was allowed develop and this was filled with a court challenge which had dire consequences for some of the most vulnerable employees in our workforce.

With the arrival of the Labour Party in Government, one might have expected a detailed and comprehensive response to the urgent problem. Shockingly, we have witnessed a Government riven by internal squabbling. Deputy Olivia Mitchell called for the complete disbanding of the JLCs. I am sure Labour Party TDs would find that difficult to swallow.

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