Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

While it is true that wages here fell 2.1% per year between 2009 and 2013, wages fell by a massive 13.4% in the same period in Northern Ireland according to the Resolution Foundation. The same independent body says that since the downturn, workers in Northern Ireland have experienced the sharpest fall in living standards of anywhere in the UK. Northern Ireland's households now have the lowest median income in the UK due to poorer job creation and maintenance and a bigger real pay squeeze. That is not the vista citizens in the Irish Republic can look forward to.

By all means let us debate the issues. I am more than happy to take on board constructive proposals from any quarter. I look forward to receiving them. Let us not pretend, however, that one side of the House has a record in government to protect and the other does not. It is not good enough for Sinn Féin to parade with a placard in its Southern hand while applying a scalpel with its Northern one. I am happy to repeat that the Government has demonstrated its commitment to maintaining and improving employment rights and to reforming both the industrial relations institutions and the industrial relations framework used by workers and employers.

Significant progress has already been made across a range of issues and there will be further progress. We continue to press ahead with our progressive programme of work to protect people in the workplace and to create decent, sustainable jobs.

I will be seeking the support of the House over the next period of time to ensure that the key legislative measures to which I referred earlier can be passed into law in the Republic in the months ahead.

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