Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)

This is a first, for me anyway. It is the first time that I have spoken in the Dáil where there is not a single person on the Opposition benches. On Friday last, there were Members complaining that the cost of running the Dáil was €90,000 a day and stating that it was a charade, and here we have a situation on a regular Thursday morning where there is not a single Front Bench spokesperson from the Opposition present for such important legislation. That says much about what the Opposition thinks about it.

I agree with Deputy Corcoran Kennedy that much of the equality legislation enacted in Ireland comes from the EU. We have often been dragged kicking and screaming into change. This Bill demonstrates the subtle difference between a directive and a regulation. Deputy Coffey spoke about how the directive was implemented differently in the UK and Ireland. We have come through a period when social partnership was the be all and end all but we found afterwards that it was a contributing factor to the erosion of our competitiveness. The UK has an important derogation under the directive for the first 12 weeks of employment but we do not have the same advantage.

Deputy Healy lashed out at employers before he left the Chamber but without employers there is no employment. Only in Cuba does everybody work for the State but I am sure the Deputy does not advocate that a cigar rolling industry be established in Ireland. Two relationships should be borne in mind, that between the State and the employer and that between the State and the employee. There is a risk that employers will be run down or described as a dirty group of people but our position would be much worse without them. A previous speaker noted that 200,000 small and medium enterprises operate in Ireland. If each of these enterprises hired an additional two people we would have no unemployment. If they took on one person the unemployment rate would be reduced by half overnight. The days are gone when 100 jobs fall off the back of an aeroplane in Shannon Airport. Foreign direct investment is coming into Ireland at a much slower rate than heretofore. If we are going to get out of this economic mire, we will need to rely on small and medium enterprises.

I understand the reasons for this legislation in terms of equality of opportunity and other issues but we should not forget that employers are festooned with inspectors of one ilk or another. As a representative of a rural constituency, I have seen the implication of inspectors for the farming sector. We do not need more layers of inspection when it comes to the regulation of employment. I worry this Bill will become another stick with which to beat employers.

Deputy Corcoran Kennedy is correct on the issue of exploitation. The reintroduction of a basic minimum wage and the Government's decision to exempt a large cohort from the universal social charge are examples of our commitment to those on low and middle incomes and demonstrate that we are serious about getting people back to work. However, we have to engage with employers because they are facing major increases in costs, whether in duties, charges or regulations.

The trade union movement can also play an important role but the days are gone when we can sit around the table in Government Buildings to carve up the cake where the first to get in the trough gets the most. Social partnership has to be reinvented and we will have to do more with less.

I see the benefit of this Bill in terms of dealing with the undeniable danger of exploitation. I agree with Deputy Healy on the issues he raised in respect of the moratorium in the HSE. Leaving aside the pension entitlements and long-term benefits that accrue to permanent staff, the costs associated with agency nurses are much higher than with nurses actually employed by the HSE. However, there are major anomalies in the way the hourly rate is divided between the agency nurse and the agent. The same applies in respect of home care packages. This issue will have to be investigated because people are doing a day's work and the middleman is taking a fair skelp out of their wages. The legislation brings these individuals into focus.

As someone who worked in the area of health and safety for a considerable length of time, I recognise that we have made huge strides on health and safety regulations protecting employees, whether permanent or agency. However, we did so only because we were dragged kicking and screaming by the EU. What some of the Members opposite will not have to say about the European Union between now and the intergovernmental conference will not be worth hearing. They will never admit that an EU directive or regulation may be worth implementing. They are also notable by their absence from this debate.

Over the coming months we will hear a litany about what the bold and mean EU is trying to do to the country. The reality is that we would not be able to keep the doors of the country open without the EU. We would not be able to pay the agency nurses to which Deputy Healy referred or any nurses or teachers. A dangerous tendency to blame the EU for everything is sneaking into Ireland. Euroscepticism has been brewing for the past several years. That is a dangerous development which needs to be carefully considered by all Departments.

I wish to raise the issue of competitiveness and the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - with the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Sherlock. How many schools in Ireland offer Portuguese, Chinese or Russian classes? In how many universities can one study for a degree in far eastern economics and Portuguese? I doubt any college in the country offers courses directed at the new and emerging economies. If we are to be competitive as a small open economy, we need to look at different models. At the end of the day, is a second level student better served by studying Russian instead of French given that Russia is one of the main emerging markets for Irish products?

As I noted previously, without employers there will be no employment. We need to be vigilant in this regard. I accept nobody likes change or having to deal with additional regulations. This legislation is important in terms of equality of opportunity and treating people as equals but a dangerous attitude is sneaking in that regards employers as a sort of mobile ATM which can fork out money to the State and everybody else. Employers do not have a bottomless pit of money and we need to engage with them with a view taking 200,000 people off the live register by creating one additional job in every SME during the lifetime of this Government. While I commend the Bill to the House I look forward to discussing amendments on Committee Stage because we are being put at a disadvantage compared to our closest geographical neighbour and largest trading partner.

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