Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Listening to the Government, Fianna Fáil and perhaps Deputy Mattie McGrath, one would think that the Bill proposes something beyond radical, some form of mandatory trade union membership on pain of hard labour. This is a very simple Bill, with a straightforward purpose, the intention of which is to solve a relatively straightforward problem. It is far too easy for businesses to discourage union membership or activity through inducement or intimidation. Both tactics are used. We need to be conscious of inducement. Unscrupulously anti-union businesses will do all in their power to obstruct union activity or even membership, including entirely ignoring the existence of unions.

To redress the balance even slightly, it is a perfectly reasonable approach to allow the union access to its members.

I am not entirely certain that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael understand this Bill fully. We are not talking about unannounced visits. We are talking about prearranged visits that would be agreed in advance unless it is unreasonable to allow such access.

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