Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

In Irish mythology, as the Taoiseach knows, this is the beginning of summer. It is a time of transition and of purification. It is also the day when trade unions and working people across the world unite in solidarity and support of workers' rights. In this State, however, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party are about the work of austerity and the erosion of workers' rights. The European Trade Union Confederation has rejected austerity and the austerity treaty.

Tá a fhios ag an Taoiseach go gcuirfí austerity and an conradh níos mó brú agus cruatán ar dhaoine atá ag obair agus ar a dteaghlaigh. Ag an am chéana, tá a lán oibrithe gan chearta ar bith.

In Vita Cortex which the Taoiseach visited, Wilson Publishing, Lagan Brick and, in my own constituency, in Vodafone, Diageo and Irish Cement, workers are having their rights trampled upon. In Vita Cortex the workers are on the 138th day of a sit-in.

Tonight, Sinn Féin will bring forward the Protection of Employees (Amendment) Bill 2012. On this May Day, or Lá Bealtaine, which is a time of purification and transition, will the Taoiseach commit the Government to supporting the Bill and to working constructively with Sinn Féin to close the loopholes some employers have used to ride roughshod over the rights of workers?

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