Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I welcome everyone in the Gallery, including musicians, voice-over artists, actors and many who have contributed to the Bill. Collectively, they will have a right good session when it is over, which we would love to be involved in.

Everyone knows the details of the legislation. It is a very important Bill with a long history. It is a great day for us in the Labour Party to see the Bill being enacted. I thank the Minister and her colleagues for their co-operation on this, and I genuinely mean it. The Bill honours a long-standing commitment my party made to ensure the protection of the right to collective bargaining for freelance workers, including freelance journalists, actors, musicians and many others, anyone basically who performs work on a self-employed or contract for service basis in a freelance way.

We had an anomaly relating to how competition law was interpreted, which has been outlined in the House a number of times. Given the European case that was taken, and the way in which SIPTU, through Equity and others, went and fought this, it was imperative that we dealt with it because competition law truly is not trying to prevent individuals working in the same way under similar conditions from being able to collectively bargain for better terms and conditions and better working rights.

Given the way society has gone, and how contracts are given out, the Bill will ensure there is not a prevalence of these contracts, whereby workers lose their entitlements and workers are paid far less than they should be. This means all of these workers, some of whom are here this evening, will be able to collectively bargain, argue their case, get better terms and conditions in their employment and get better wages. Ultimately, trade union activity is, technically, an anti-competitive practice. It is a weird thing to say but it is true, because it is about the right of individuals and groups, as part of a union, to act in a collective way to ensure that at the end of negotiations they manifest better conditions and better pay for themselves as workers.

The Bill covers those in full-time and part-time employment and it does not make a distinction. This is an important move for actors, freelance journalists and musicians, but it is not just about them. An important component of the Bill, which has had a long journey, is that it provides a pathway for other workers to get the same rights through the legislation being introduced here. Other workers will follow. The Labour Party will pursue other strata of workers, who will be able to apply under the legislation for the same recognition of those referenced in the Bill.

The Bill is very important for the Labour Party. It is very progressive legislation. It is an historic moment for us and the people whom the legislation will support. Some of us speak about new politics. It is not something of which I am a big fan, but I must say this is an example of a positive change. This is the first Private Members' Bill of this Dáil which will be completed and concluded. This is historic, and something of which the Labour Party is very proud. With all the support we are getting across the House, it is something of which we all should be proud and we should all welcome it.

This is an historic moment, and I mean this in more ways than one. I thank SIPTU, Equity, the NUJ, ICTU and all of the other unions and groups, many of which have representatives sitting above us, for their continued support. Some of the individuals here have been fighting for this for 15 to 20 years. I do not want to make them sound old. Others have been fighting for it for a shorter period of time but with equal conviction. For those who do not know, the history of the Bill goes back to our President, who was the first person to draft legislation to put forward this change. To be fair, it will be unique when the President, of whom we are all very proud and of whom we in the Labour Party, obviously, are especially proud of, in a short space of time, will sign into law legislation which is, although he worked with a number of other people, effectively his own work.

President Higgins drafted his Bill in 2006. I also want to acknowledge a former colleague, Emmet Stagg, who consistently pursued it afterwards, and pushed for it to be brought forward, which it was under the previous Government. I also acknowledge Senators Ivana Bacik and Gerald Nash, who brought it through Seanad Éireann and completed it. They made amendments and worked with the Government to ensure we had a Bill that would go relatively quickly through the House. I thank them for doing this because they worked very diligently and hard and put on pressure to get through. Now we are bringing it through this House and it is truly an historic moment. It will change the lives of many of the people I have referenced. Some of them are here. It will change the way in which they engage with their employers. It will get them better terms and conditions. It will create conditions whereby they can fight for better pay. In many cases, simply put, they are not being paid what they are due, and they can change the conditions under which they work and the fact the hours they work are not set. It is a very important Bill.

I thank those Members who have contributed to the debate and other spokesperson on jobs in particular. I thank them for their support. I thank people for supporting the Labour Party through both Houses regarding the Bill. I also thank the Minister for facilitating it. We spoke on Committee Stage and I asked that we get it through this week because so many people were hoping it would pass. The Minister has honoured this and I appreciate that on behalf of the Labour Party. I thank her very much. I look forward to the day the President signs the Bill which, in essence, will be a unique occasion because it is a Bill he first brought forward.

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