Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We can take it from the Minister of State's reply that an ongoing review means that he is going to do nothing, that he will just wait and see what other people do and that he might tag along afterwards if it suits his agenda. The prohibition on trade union membership for members of the Defence Forces is effective under the Defence (Amendment) Act 1990. That Act states that the Minister can lift the prohibition. It is inadequate for members of the Defence Forces that the Minister of State is acting as a bystander. He has said repeatedly that he is happy with the conciliation and arbitration scheme. Nobody else is happy with it. Members of the Defence Forces are disadvantaged compared to any other workers in the State, including members of An Garda Síochána.

The Minister has reluctantly agreed to changes in terms of lifting the exclusion of the Organisation of Working Time Act. It took five years for the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA, to drag the Department to the table to engage on that issue. It took the threat of legal action for it to happen. The Minister has lauded the actions of Defence Forces personnel in the Mediterranean. They, in effect, were being paid less than the minimum wage because of the Organisation of Working Time Act not being in place for them. They had to threaten legal action. Everything has to be dragged out of the Department or done at the Minister of State's whim. The members of the Defence Forces want it as a right; it a right that everybody else has.

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