Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach is on the record as saying that industrial peace is a critical factor in our national recovery. However, over the last nine months we have seen increasing industrial unrest, both in the public and private employment. It now looks like the record of this Administration will be a return to an era of industrial chaos.

Four weeks ago I raised the issue of Bus Éireann with the Taoiseach. I said then that over recent months we had heard a lot of noise but little clarity about the future of Bus Éireann. What has now become clear is that the crisis is being used to slash the terms and conditions of front-line workers in Bus Éireann. A registered employment agreement - we restored those, if the Taoiseach recalls - is in place covering bus workers but that is now being ignored by management. I believe management is trying to bypass the industrial machinery of the State. It is open to the Government, in the interest of industrial relations and sectoral pay policy, to put in place a system of sectoral employment orders - the Taoiseach will recall we put that in place in legislation in our time. It is open to the Government, in a licensed and regulated sector, particularly one of strategic importance like public transport, to insist on co-operation with the industrial relations machinery of the State.

Four weeks ago we last discussed this issue and it has festered since. I have a few questions for the Taoiseach. First, does he accept that, regardless of how the bus network is redesigned, no matter who is given what route, there must be a common and basic set of ground rules? Second, does he agree that no one - not the market, not the consumers and not the workers - benefits from a ruthless race to the bottom?

Third, will the Taoiseach accept that the members of this Government are not mere bystanders? As this dispute festers, threatening communities across the country, there is an obligation on and a genuine public interest in the Taoiseach taking measures to avoid chaos. Does he agree, therefore, that he must at the very least ensure a common minimum acceptable floor with regard to the terms and conditions in this sector? If he accepts that, will he agree, as a matter of belated but important action, that it would be a condition of public transport bus licences that the licensee would join representative employers in that sector who will negotiate common and fair terms and conditions? Will the Taoiseach insist that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport stops becoming a passive bystander and ensures that this is done?

See this speech in context