Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While he may have made the statement with a serious face, the Minister cannot honestly believe local partnership companies can make redundancy payments to staff without his Department providing them with the money to do so. All of the funding disbursed under the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, is controlled by the Department and no disbursements may proceed without his approval. It is amazing that the Labour Court saw through the rubbish being spoken by the Minister. The court, in its recommendation on the matter, stated the issues raised by the unions were real and substantial and, like any group of workers, the workers in question were entitled to an opportunity to have the issues ventilated and addressed by those with responsibility for the decisions that had given rise to their concerns. This, according to the Labour Court, cannot be achieved through engagement between the parties to the referral alone, namely, the local development companies and unions. Having taken into account all of the circumstances of the case, the court recommended that a forum be established to deal with the employment related matters affecting the workers associated with the claim. This forum, it stated, should involve the unions and representatives of the employers in the first instance. However, the parties should seek the participation in the forum of the de factodecision makers in matters of policy and funding. The Minister is the de factodecision maker in this case because he provides all of the funding. Will he be up-front and inform the employers and workers about what will take place or will he leave them in the lurch, as he appears to be doing?

See this speech in context