Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, for coming to the House for this Topical Issue. It appears that the relevant Ministers did not appear for the other issues that were raised, although I do not know whether that reflects something. I have raised this issue because a ruling of the Supreme Court last Thursday struck out the legality of registered employment agreements, or REAs. This happened previously with employment regulation orders, EROs, and joint labour committees, JLCs. All these abbreviations sound very confusing.

The 1946 Industrial Relations Act was specifically enacted to provide that a union or unions representing a majority of workers in a particular industry - and the employers representing a majority in that industry - could, if both agreed, register an agreement on pay and conditions with the Labour Court, which would then have legal status. I am seeking clarity from the Minister following what happened on Thursday. There was much coverage of this issue at the weekend. It must be clearly spelled out that the existing agreements remain in force unless renegotiated, so that workers already in contract are protected under the national contract of employment.

My second question concerns the problem with new agreements. Can employers now bring in immigrant workers on pay that is just above the minimum wage, or based on their own countries' minimum wage levels? An unemployed friend of mine has informed me about a recent advertisement in Poland seeking 900 electricians to do a big contract job in Intel. Workers here are obviously concerned about this.

Those affected are mainly construction workers, electrical contractors and plumbers. Will the Minister act to legalise the REAs through the Dáil, as we had to do before, without watering down the pay and conditions of these workers?

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