Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the passage of this Bill. I confess to having a certain proprietary interest in as it is a process that commenced during my time as Minister of State at the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

I acknowledge the great service given to the State by the staff, secretariat and members of organisations such as the Employment Appeals Tribunal, the Labour Relations Commission and Equality Tribunal. This is about providing more rights and respecting the rights that people currently have, as evidenced by the tone of the debate.

I am sure the Minister will join with me on this significant day for employment rights in this country in wishing Ms Patricia King every success in her new role as President of ICTU. This is an area in which she has shown great interest. She is very much a no nonsense operator. I know she will be very involved in standing up for the rights of workers in this country. I again pay tribute to all of the officials involved in the preparation and passage of this legislation, including staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas and thank the Minister's officials for their assistance in providing information on it.

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