Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

11 o’clock

Before dealing with the content of the motion, it would be wrong for me not to highlight the terrible manner in which this legislation is being put through. Despite the lengthy consultative period and nearly €200,000 being spent on professional fees, the Department and the Minister of State's colleagues have undermined the work by hammering the Bill through the Oireachtas in such a short space of time. It rubs salt into the wound that the Minister of State is now seeking to piggyback on to it the amendments to the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act, the Industrial Relations Act and the Organisation of Working Time Act.

Despite the publication of this Bill a few short months ago, the Department and the Minister of State's colleague submitted 90 pages of amendments on Committee Stage, which was taken only last Thursday. Deputies were provided with one working day to submit amendments to this legislation. The Minister of State's colleague, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, when in opposition took a far more critical tone with Ministers who rushed through legislation. In 2009 he stated to the Minister for Finance in this Chamber that any seasoned legislator will confirm that rushed legislation is often flawed legislation. The Irish Water legislation is the most obvious evidence for that foresight of the Minister of State's colleague in 2009.

We welcome the removal of section 2B of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009. My colleague, Deputy McDonald, sought the deletion of this intolerable provision when the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform introduced it last year. As the Minister of State knows, this amendment to the FEMPI legislation was an abrasive attempt by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to strong-arm public servants as they were casting their vote on the Haddington Road agreement. It is very interesting that the briefing note supplied by the Minister of State's Department on this amendment states that unions and staff representatives have reflected that its inclusion in the FEMPI legislation fundamentally compromised the voluntary system of industrial relations in Ireland and had no place in a system of collective bargaining, but that is exactly what we said a year ago. This is not news to the Minister of State or to his Cabinet colleagues. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, stated this clear intent last year when he introduced the provision. He said it was a contingency provision and was designed in the event of non-agreement by public servants to the Haddington Road agreement. The Minister of State has repeatedly argued for maintaining the voluntary nature of Ireland's industrial relations system and yet his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, voted for that legislation, as did he.

The Minister of State stated that it is timely and essential that any existing legislative provisions that might impede the revision of industrial relations machinery be removed as part of the implementation of the Workplace Relations Bill. Aontaím leis go huile agus go hiomlán. Section 2B is not some leftover legislation from the distant past. This legislation was introduced by the Minister of State's Government just last year and signed off by the Cabinet before it reached the floor of the Dáil.

To use this legislative process in such a cynical fashion is deeply disappointing and yet another example of this failed democratic revolution. Sinn Féin supports the proposed amendment to the Industrial Relations Act 1990 and welcomes the Minister of State's statement that there is no significant reason to continue to restrict access to the industrial relations machinery of the State to civil servants. That is a very important position taken by the Government. It would be helpful if the Minister of State could give details on the consultation that will take place between the public service committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court and the timeframe within which a decision will be made on the future move away from the conciliation and arbitration scheme to the workplace relations committee.

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