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

We are not talking about the Green Berets arriving up to a business in a Humvee. We are talking about a trade union official with a briefcase arriving by appointment and looking to speak to the members of the union on issues of concern to them. I cannot fathom how the Government or Fianna Fáil can object to such a proposal.

Fianna Fáil has argued against this Bill on the basis of technicalities that could easily be rectified by way of amendment on Committee Stage. I will give an example. Last night, we supported Fianna Fail's Public Services and Procurement (Social Value) Bill 2017 on Second Stage with a view to amending it on Committee Stage. Fianna Fáil would not be objecting to our Bill on Second Stage unless it was opposed to it on principle. Given the reasonable and careful manner in which we have structured this Bill, which provides for recourse, the idea that foreign direct investment would be frightened off or intimidated by this proposal is absolutely worthy of ridicule. I cannot imagine that a business which has invested in Ireland would be put off by the idea that it might occasionally have to accept an appointment to meet a trade union official or allow such an official to visit one of its locations.

I will conclude by making a related point about the recognition of trade unions and respect for trade union rights. The fifth anniversary of the start of the Vita Cortex sit-in, which lasted 161 days, was marked just before Christmas. I remind the House that the Government of the time, which was supported by two of the three Ministers and Ministers of State currently sitting on the Government benches, gave a commitment at that time that it would introduce legislation to ensure workers who are made redundant get their entitlements. This commitment was made again and again by the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government. Sinn Féin introduced legislation in this area. Five years on, absolutely nothing has been done regarding this matter, to which the Government needs to return.

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