Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit agus buíochas a ghabháil leis an gCeann Comhairle as ucht an seans labhairt ar an mBille seo.

I welcome this legislation and commend the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, for bringing it to the House. It contains important provisions for the reintroduction of registered employment agreements, REAs, which were struck down by the Supreme Court and makes provision for collective bargaining. At the same time, the Minister of State is steering important legislation regarding the minimum wage and the low pay through the Seanad. This package of legislative proposals on industrial relations between the employer and employee is the most far-reaching reform of Ireland's industrial relations machinery in decades.

The old structure of REAs had been struck down by the Supreme Court on constitutional grounds. Whole sectors of the workforce previously protected by these agreements were left in limbo and this needed to be addressed urgently. An integral part of the deal on the sale of the State’s shareholding in Aer Lingus was based on the commitment that this legislation would be passed. It would then allow a series of REAs to be negotiated for various sectors of the Aer Lingus workforce and registered when this Bill becomes law. It is unlikely that the sale would have taken place if these REAs were not imminent. I hope no party or Member in either House will stand in the way of the passage of this legislation before the summer recess. It is important for Aer Lingus that the workforce will be able to engage directly with the employer as it is intended to protect against outsourcing of jobs and compulsory redundancies, as well as providing for pay and conditions of the Aer Lingus employees.

The legislation also deals with ensuring compliance by the State with recent judgments of the European Court of Human Rights on collective bargaining. It will allow workers where there is no collective bargaining in place to access the Labour Court. One of the key issues addressed by James Larkin in the 1913 Lock-out was the right of workers to organise through a union and to collectively bargain on their employment terms and conditions with their employers. Thankfully, this vibrant issue in our history is now being addressed.

We are not going out on a limb in any way. Collective bargaining is a fundamental legal right in 24 of the 27 EU member states. It is the norm rather than the exception. It is significant we have these particular measures before us today. What is required is to do this in the context of the recovery that is taking place in our society. As the economy is beginning to recover, the quality of our society is equally important. We need decent working conditions for employees. That is the type of civilised society to which we should look forward. A good quality civilised industrial relationship machinery is extraordinarily important. It will deal with issues like the unattractive situation for Dunnes Stores employees. It will be difficult not to have such matters dealt with under this new legislation.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection recently amended the Pensions Act to allow collective representation and recognition for groups representing former workers at the stage where trustees have applied for section 50 orders to the Pensions Authority. Could we begin to examine the possibility of not just workers being protected by industrial relations machinery but also former workers? Hopefully, both Ministers opposite will put this on their agenda for the not-too-distant future.

I commend this legislation to the Dáil.

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