Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

I welcome the Bill. It was introduced in the Seanad by Senator Feargal Quinn, who is present to observe this debate. The Bill passed through the Seanad and the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, worked on it. It is a Private Members' Bill, which is very welcome because it is important that legislation passed in the House not always be Government legislation. It is very rare for a Private Members' Bill to be accepted by the Government and taken on board. I welcome this.

I wish to make a point on the importance of the Seanad. Under the Constitution, legislators operate in a bicameral system with a three-part structure involving the Dáil, Seanad and President. It is a question of checks and balances and protection. The Seanad can provide extra scrutiny and legislative proposals. This Bill demonstrates the value of the Seanad in our parliamentary democracy. I am aware there was a vote in the Seanad today in which it asserted its independence in a motion on Seanad reform. Eradicating the Seanad without considering the consequences for our democracy poses a problem. It is important the Dáil considers the matter sympathetically.

The Bill addresses a very important issue which has been more pronounced during the recession but which was probably relevant before it, albeit not to the same extent. As a Deputy, I was approached with regard to this issue by a number of sole traders and small business people working in the construction sector. They outlined the impact on their businesses if they did not receive payment for the work they had done. It is very important for a business to have cashflow. Money is not exactly forthcoming from the banks or other sources. In this context, it is very important that construction work carried out be paid for.

People who carry out surveying work have raised the issue of not being paid on time. In one case, a contractor had not been paid because of a hold-up at local authority level. Therefore, the problem is not associated with the private sector alone.

While the legislation is very welcome, I contend there are many issues that need to be addressed in respect of construction. It has been brought to my attention by many contractors that while they are compliant regarding their obligations concerning payments, wages and conditions, including the payment of workers' pensions, some companies that receive State work and which are paid from State coffers are not compliant and have been brought before the Labour Court because of various practices. This is not just speculation because I am aware of one case reported in the newspapers in that regard. I have raised this issue a number of times through parliamentary questions and I have written to the relevant Ministers about it. There needs to be an even playing pitch for construction workers. We should reward those who have done the work and who are compliant in respect of various liabilities concerning tax, wages, conditions and pensions.

See this speech in context