Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I stand corrected. The Minister is right. I apologise for that misrepresentation of his predecessor. In any event, in the Minister's case, it was a matter of negotiating on the absolute understanding that in the absence of agreement, he would legislate. There are echoes of this in section 4. Can the Minister confirm that in amending the 2013 FEMPI legislation, he is providing for an extension by a further two years of the suspension of incremental pay scales in respect of those not encompassed by a registered collective agreement, namely, the Lansdowne Road agreement? The concern is - it is a legitimate concern which goes beyond this particular legislation to the manner in which generally industrial relations are conducted and agreements are reached - that for those workers who do not fall into line in terms of signing up to the agreement, the Minister will legislate to penalise them. That is a cause of worry for, as referenced by the Minister, teachers. More generally, if this is the new modus operandiof the State in terms of how it collectively bargains, it should be a cause of concern for everybody working in the public service and Civil Service. Workers are being told, "Agree or we legislate", or "Agree and not alone will we legislate but we will legislate in a fairly targeted way to penalise you." That is not a good day out, particularly for somebody such as the Minister who many times has set out his own trade union credentials and those of his forefathers.

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