Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am very happy on behalf of the Green Party to support the Labour Party motion. I will set out a couple of thoughts in the few short minutes I have. We live in a world where capital moves quickly. It can move from one part of the world to another in the blink of an eye and without any real controls. There is completely free movement of capital. In that same world, labour and migration are slow. It is not that easy to move. There is not the same speed. There is a negotiating power imbalance whereby the speed of capital gives it excessive power over labour.

From a Green Party perspective, I would bring in a third factor of production, which is natural capital, because that is static. The main message I want to get across is that natural capital and labour are natural allies in that world in terms of seeking to put a damper on the power of capital and to regulate such as to bring a greater return to labour and protect natural capital. As David Begg said at a recent climate gathering, there are no jobs on a dead planet. There are thousands of well-paid jobs in the green transition we need to make. We must ensure that it is a just transition and, in that spirit, we are happy to support the Labour Party motion.

We must be cognisant of what is happening in the European Union and within our currency union. We look at what has happened to Germany as an example of that imbalance. German economic success is very real. Germany is able to trade in a global economy, but it has done so by increasing the retained earnings of companies and by not giving a fair share to labour. If one looks at the global situation, that has happened across the board. There has been an ever-increasing return to capital and a decreasing return to labour. That needs to stop. We must end zero-hour contracts and precarious working conditions. We can do so in a way that maintains our competitiveness. To do so is in tune with the way the world is going. The old way has to end.

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