Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

Deputy Smith's contribution made me smile because on 7 August 2009, the then Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Calleary, announced publication of an Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill and on 9 February 2011, the then Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin, introduced an independent review. It is incorrect and unfair to claim this Government has been tardy.

It is important that we reflect on where we stand as a society and economy. We have to think differently and flexibly while at the same time striking a balance between protecting workers and supporting employers in creating jobs in, for example, the hotel and tourism sector. These objectives can be mutually compatible. I pay tribute to the Minister, Deputy Bruton, the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, and their officials in bringing to our present position.

What does it mean to be an employee in the Irish workforce of today? The jobs that will be affected by this Bill are in low paid and competitive sectors which require a degree of flexibility. I know several employers in the hotel and tourism sector who are finding it difficult to survive in the current market.

Deputy Harris spoke about the Croke Park agreement. It is time we had an honest debate on that agreement in terms of what it has delivered and where we go next. We should recognise the contribution made by the workers, however, because it is farcical that people on higher pay in the public service are not being questioned at a time when those who work on the front line are being pummelled. There are no more sacred cows when it comes to the public service. I speak as a proud public servant who worked in a classroom and was a school teacher by profession for more than 20 years. We must be flexible and modern but we cannot trample on the worker.

Job creation requires entrepreneurs to invest but it also needs a committed and people-centred workforce. Irish society can offer a very good workforce. It is important that we properly value jobs and appropriately reward work. This is why the Government restored the minimum wage, changed employers' PRSI rates and created incentives for employment. Work is the key to restoring our country's future growth and prosperity. We must never allow a situation to develop whereby it is preferable to be on welfare than to be in a job.

I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, on his work with small and medium enterprises to create sustainable employment. He must be allowed to continue these efforts to eliminate barriers to employment and job retention. This is why the programme for Government highlights the need for reform. In his opening contribution on the Bill, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, stated: "It is necessary to make our economy more flexible, more competitive and more productive." This is not a question of ideology; it is about retaining jobs, rewarding employers in the tourism and hospitality sector and guaranteeing workers will earn a fair and decent wage.

Deputy Smith referred to the case of Vita Cortex. I welcome that we are in a process of engagement with the Labour Relations Commission, which met yesterday and will meet again on Friday. This is an issue of workers' rights. These people are not militant. They are not on the public highways trying to hijack or wrong anybody. They are merely seeking their entitlements. Imagine working 40 years in a company and being told at the 11th hour that the employer cannot pay redundancy. A number of young people are in the Gallery on a school tour. I hope they will not grow up in an Ireland where this is allowed to happen.

An employer has a responsibility and we need to consider reform of redundancy legislation. There must be transparency regarding what employers are entitled to offer and what they are statutorily required to provide. We must not allow company structures to be interweaved to facilitate profits, which is fine on one level, if they do not allow requirements to be met. That cannot be allowed to continue.

The Minister speaks about flexibility in the system, and I have no problem with that, provided a balance is struck between employer and employee. We cannot allow anybody to tell us that an inability to pay is a good enough reason to close down a company, particularly in the hospitality and tourism sector, which the Government has used as a benchmark for job creation, with our tourism figures showing that it has been successful. The Vita Cortex and La Senza workers have demonstrated that there is an imbalance, an anomaly, that must be examined. I am heartened by the fact that there are a group of people in Cork - like many of us here, ordinary, decent people with no airs and graces - who are seeking what is their right and entitlement, and they should be supported and encouraged. Equally, however, we must encourage employers not to go down this road.

Jobs, jobs, jobs is what we are hearing every single day. This is what is important. The job of all of us in this House, particularly the Opposition Members, is to create confidence, with the Government, in the economy. If we can get people to spend and to have a positive outlook, we can lift the morale of the country. We can lift the retail sector by creating consumer confidence. Deputy Colreavy said that Governments do not create jobs, and he is right. They do not. Jobs are created by a combination of factors.

Our banking system is not working in the way it should be for small and medium-sized enterprises. Credit is the lifeblood of business. It is what our companies and SMEs require. This morning I attended a very good briefing by the Central Statistics Office for Members and staff of the Oireachtas. I compliment the Houses of the Oireachtas on the presentation. One of the things I was struck by was the number of small and medium-sized enterprises in this country. It is extraordinary that such a massive number of people are employed in such businesses. There are more than 200,000 SMEs, as the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, knows well. The majority of them are employing small numbers of people. What struck me was that we went from having the second highest employment level in the European Union to having the sixth lowest in the space of two years. As a small, open, global economy, we do need foreign direct investment, but we also need inward investment from home. We need people who have the confidence to go in and invest.

Our county and city councils have a major role to play in the creation of employment. I made this comment last Friday in the context of the Local Authority Public Administration Bill, which we were debating at that time, and I will say it again today. The planners have a great role to assist in the economic development of our country by allowing people - in the main, entrepreneurs - to create business. They must show initiative, they must interact and they must allow development to take place where jobs could be created.

Equally, the issue of rates and energy costs must be tackled. I am very disappointed that we cannot go after upward-only rent reviews. I will go back to my own city of Cork, where many business are paying rents that are crazy in this modern age. I met a business person the other day who was paying almost €3,000 a week in rent for a holding that is nearly the size of my front room at home. We can no longer sustain that. I heard the Minister for Justice, Deputy Shatter, talk about the legal opinion he was given. However, there must be a realisation that rates need to be brought down. Cop-on must be shown. This is about creating five or ten jobs in small coffee shops or retail outlets.

Equally, our banks must work with people, and in the main they are not doing so. I want this to be highlighted. We must allow credit to flow. Businesses need a certain level of overdraft in order to survive, flourish, create business and assist the local economy. Maybe it is the case that we have too many retail outlets, and our hospitality sector is over-expanded, but I want to avoid a situation in which one could land a jumbo jet on Patrick Street in Cork. I want to see people coming in to shop and engage in recreation in the city of Cork, where I am from. That requires a willingness by employers to be flexible and it also requires flexibility in pay rates and the setting of labour payments. In addition, I hope the enforcement of penalties against employers that transgress the legislative provisions will be considered.

This is an important Bill. I do not agree with the remarks made by Deputy Smith about the Government. A High Court ruling was given and departmental officials sat down and examined it. I appreciate that this is a complex Bill and that it does not keep everybody happy. Indeed, if one looks through the debate pack we were given by the Library and Research Service, one will see that IBEC and the hotel and restaurant federations are up in arms about it. It is important, however, that we think anew. The Bill - particularly section 11, which deals with principles and policies - is very fair-minded. There is a mechanism for further interaction in which employee and employer are in communication and negotiation.

We must get it right when it comes to competitiveness, and we must create employment. We must never allow a welfare system to become the norm at the expense of job creation, and we must consider how we can create jobs and boost domestic confidence in the economy. The Government has made a good start in this regard. We have not got everything right, but we have been fair and balanced and we have put employment and jobs at the core of what we do as a Government. Employers, employees and the Government must work together.

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