Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 6, lines 31 and 32, to delete all words from and including "and" in line 31 down to and including "so," in line 32.

Legislation is made not only for today and tomorrow but, potentially, for generations to come. We must develop and create that legislation to deal with eventualities that may not necessarily be in the objectives or the mind of the current Government.

There is a mechanism within the Bill which allows the Minister to set aside the decisions of the process. This is a weakening of the process. No doubt there is logic to the Minister having the power to set aside provisions if the legislation has not been followed and that is right and proper, but there are difficulties. There probably will come a day where a Minister will have either a political ideology or political imperative to set aside a properly negotiated framework for decent wages. We believe that undermines the legislation and undermines the work of the court on that issue.

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