Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I concur with other speakers on this. Where a provision has been agreed on Committee Stage - when one would expect the Minister to be in possession of all of the facts, details and advice - it is extremely unsatisfactory that there be a proposal to change it a few weeks later on Report Stage. One cannot help but think that there is a connection between this and other deletions the Minister is proposing and the strong lobbying by IBEC and others on the proposal to strengthen workers' rights. It seems to be a bit of a coincidence that this is happening. One can understand why people are sceptical about what is being said. It would certainly seem that on the surface the Minister is seeking to weaken the provisions of the Bill by proposing this amendment. In a situation where it is presumed that the section in question has been contravened, surely the burden of proof should be on the employer. The Minister is seeking to remove this, which, by anyone's standards, seems to indicate that she is weakening the protection she had earlier proposed.

We are sceptical about what the Minister is saying but we have to take it on face value. It would be worthwhile if we just held off on voting on the amendment. We are nearly out of time in any event. Will the Minister commit to circulating the representations she has received from the WRC and the Labour Court straight after this debate? It is important that we hear what they are saying about it and the points they make about the legislation because we are open to considering it if they have made a strong case. I ask the Minister to circulate the representations she has received from the industrial relations machinery immediately after this debate.

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