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

The Taoiseach has at every opportunity described Ireland as the best little country in which to do business. It seems Forbes magazine agrees. However, I believe the question of whether Ireland is a good little country for the average person in which to try to earn a living needs to be raised. One of the reasons given for moving Ireland to the top of the Forbes list for pro-business countries is that wages have been driven down by 11% since 2008 in Ireland. Employers have used the economic crash and mass unemployment to attack wages and conditions.

I refer the Taoiseach to the industrial dispute involving 2,300 workers at the retail giant, Marks & Spencer, who were out on strike last Saturday en masse. This is a typical example of what is happening. The unions were called in this September by the management to hear the company's proposed cost saving measures. These included a reduction of Sunday and public holiday premium pay, the elimination of contracted Christmas bonuses and a reduction in the number of section managers. The company assured the unions that these were the only items on the agenda. Then, a bombshell came. Despite this assurance, within weeks the company unilaterally announced the closure of the company's defined benefit pension scheme on 31 October. I would like Deputy Stagg to listen to this because it should be of interest to him in respect of workers' rights. This affects 900 long-term staff in the shop. The scheme is performing and has a €17 million surplus. What we have here is a blatant use of the economic crisis to change long-standing conditions and pay for workers. These measures, including the winding up of the pension scheme, mean a cut of between 20% and 25% in pay and benefits for these workers.

As with the ESB workers, who I congratulate on taking a stand and winning the right to defend their defined benefit pension, workers at Marks & Spencer deserve full support in resisting these attacks. Does the Taoiseach accept that making Ireland the best little country for business makes Ireland a difficult place for working people to defend their pay, conditions and pension rights?

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