Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Like the other speakers, I welcome the Bill and I congratulate the Labour Party and the Minister. We were completely at odds with the Minister on the last Bill, which related to the bogus tax avoiders of the multinational companies and the mechanisms being provided for them in that Bill. However, we are on the same page with this Bill. Perhaps the Labour Party had a better friend in Deputy Mitchell O'Connor in terms of her role in bringing this forward. We are currently working on a Bill to redefine what is the meaning of a worker.

The Minister referred many times on Committee Stage to the sorts of employment arrangements that exist, such as those of workers for Uber or Deliveroo, who are regarded as self-employed, who do not have a right to be recognised automatically by unions and who find it very difficult to organise within trade unions. Perhaps we can extend the provision to other groups of workers in the future. I am absolutely delighted for the group of workers in question that they have achieved what has been provided for.

I do not understand why Deputy Alan Kelly said trade unions are anti-competitive. That is an inverse way of considering it. Trade unions, by their nature, are not anti-competitive; in fact, they exist to protect, promote and defend workers' rights and conditions. This does not necessarily drive down competition if the employers are half decent, recognise unions and work and negotiate with them. Sometimes, however, trade unions fall down in their determination and in their concentration on representing workers' rights. I wish these workers all the best but all workers who are members of trade unions need to be vigilant and active. They need to realise that their membership is about their motivation and participation in trade unions; otherwise, the unions themselves are weakened.

I welcome the Bill and look forward to our being able to redefine "worker" in line with new, modern ways of employing and maintaining employment, albeit in many different guises. There are, however, many bogus forms of employment and this needs to be straightened out and changed. There is a lot of work to be done for workers after tonight.

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