Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I made the point to the Taoiseach earlier today that there are different ways to govern. One way is to build a citizen-centred, rights-based society with equality, a right to public services and meaningful jobs with decent pay, terms and conditions. The other is where it is everyone for themselves, where there is little sense of social solidarity, an absence of legislative rights for citizens and little or no social protections. That is a vision to which Sinn Féin is totally opposed and which Fine Gael and, shamefully, now the Labour Party, embrace. That is the vision that has manifested itself, despite protestations from Ministers, due to the neo-liberal policies of the Government and its friends in the EU elite.

Low pay and so-called labour market flexibility are key elements in the vision. Such a vision seeks to reverse the progress made over many decades in making life better for ordinary citizens. It seeks to stop parliaments or governments from acting first and foremost in the best interests of people. It attacks solidarity between citizens. If this vision had dominated in the past, we would not have seen the abolition of child labour, which used to be the norm. We would not have universal suffrage, as it used to be the norm that women did not have the vote. We would not have seen the introduction of the eight-hour working day, pensions for the elderly, the creation of the welfare state or the building of public health and education systems. It is a dark and selfish vision of society and it is one which Sinn Féin rejects. We believe we need to take our economy and society in a better, more enlightened direction where the economy serves the citizens as opposed to the people serving the economy. That is not to say we do not support business, because we do. Nor is it to say that we are not in favour of people being wealthy because that is fair enough, but we must have equality at the heart of it. Time out of number during the Government's term of office, Sinn Féin has argued with it about the social consequences of the measures being introduced. We have asked whether the measures have been equality proofed. The Government has ignored our protestations.

After four years in office, and despite a programme for Government commitment, the Government has failed to legislate for collective bargaining. It has also failed to introduce anti-victimisation legislation to protect vulnerable workers. We have seen the inevitable outcome of that in the treatment of vulnerable, low-paid workers at Dunnes Stores and elsewhere. Yet, there are still no sanctions to compel employers to engage with trade unions. We have a very significant low-pay problem with almost 12% of workers being at risk of poverty. Casual, insecure work in now entrenched in the labour force. The prevalence of low-paid work and zero-hour contracts is undermining the chances of a fair recovery. If the recovery is not fair then there is no recovery; it is just a case of recycling the old business of the people at the top getting wealthier and the people in the middle and at the bottom staying where they are. We need a recovery that leaves no family and no citizen behind.

The current situation amounts to bad economics for the State and society because it imposes an additional expenditure burden on the State and impacts negatively on tax revenue. The delay in completing the Government’s report on zero-hour contracts shows the lack of importance the Government attaches to the issue. That is the reason many ask what is the point of the Labour Party in government. If the Labour Party cannot defend the most  fundamental of workers’ rights, what is the party doing in government? Sinn Féin’s Bill seeks to introduce an immediate ban on zero-hour contracts and to allows workers to have some sense of security. It demands the Government sets a date for the introduction of collective bargaining legislation before the summer recess, provides for trade union recognition and compels employers to engage with trade unions. In addition, the Bill has robust anti-victimisation clauses to protect workers. Fundamentally, the Bill is about common decency and fairness for Irish workers.

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