Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The fact that the Dáil is spending an entire week discussing the issue of provisions to deal with Brexit with other business pushed off the agenda is something that should be commented upon. Naturally, there are genuine fears among workers about their jobs and the economic consequences of Brexit. There are also genuine fears about the Border and people's national rights but would this level of logistical preparation and the marshalling of legislation that we are discussing have been applied to the housing crisis we have suffered in this country for five years that directly impacts on the lives of tens of thousands of people? It seems that emergency legislation is not done in this Dáil in the interests of ordinary people.

The key feature of the Government's preparation is an unprecedented corporate bailout proposed in Part 3. It deals with the setting aside of large sums of public moneys to be put into companies but without any criteria for proven need and at the total discretion of Enterprise Ireland and, potentially, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Companies will be able to apply for grants up to €7.5 million for research "where those research needs cannot be met in Ireland". That is particularly aimed at the pharmaceutical and veterinary industries. What are we talking about here? We are not talking about small businesses down on their luck or the layoff of workers. We are talking about very large multinational corporations domiciled in Ireland in many cases for tax purposes. Enterprise Ireland will also have the power to lend €7.5 million without having to consult the Government and to lend even more with Government consultation. What type of companies are we talking about because no criteria have been put into the Bill for the provision of these grants?

There is nothing mentioned about workers' rights or jobs, and people outside may have the impression that there is.

The type of companies that we are talking about in the agrifood sector which might be able to apply for €7.5 million of funding under this legislation would be Kerry Group with a turnover of €6.4 billion, Larry Goodman's ABP Food Group with €2.8 billion in turnover, Greencore Group with €2.6 billion in turnover, Glanbia with €2.3 billion in turnover, and Moy Park with €1.6 billion in turnover. It is an unprecedented licence for companies to apply for a large chunk of corporate welfare without any criteria being put in about jobs being saved. Clauses are even included to allow the State take companies into public ownership, but not in the sense of really being nationalised, taken over and democratically run in the State's interest, something socialists have obviously advocated for in the past and fully support to save jobs. The stipulation is that it would not take a majority share. Bailed out private companies would be allowed to continue regardless of the interests of workers or of the public interest. It is very like the bank bailout of ten years ago when repossessions, branch closures and the ripping off of customers continued despite public ownership and massive propping up by the State. Any state aid that would be given to companies should have stringent conditions attached relating to protecting jobs, wages, work conditions, trade union rights and, of course, the environment. Such decisions on handouts should have democratic oversight by the Dáil, not by Enterprise Ireland.

Rather than handing out hundreds of millions of euros to big businesses, a left government would take affected companies into public ownership to safeguard jobs. It would use the Brexit crisis not as an excuse to line the pockets of the 1% but as an opportunity to enhance the welfare of the 99%. Public ownership would also enable a left government to begin the necessary conversion of the agrifood industry away from its dangerous overdependence on beef and dairy, which is damaging both environmentally, as the Taoiseach has admitted, in terms of climate change and economically, given the likely decline in beef and cheese exports in the event of a no-deal Brexit. A left government would also use this public ownership to move the agriculture sector towards a more green horticultural economy. Green conversion on this scale would only ever be possible with large-scale State intervention involving taking over the major agrifood companies that I have mentioned.

I want to talk about some of the rights that are put forward and protected in the Bill. Socialists obviously stand for no curtailment of people's rights or for making people's rights a bargaining chip in any negotiations on Brexit, or in negotiations on the future relationship of the common travel area. There should be a definite and unconditional commitment from the Irish Government put into this Bill that regardless of what is negotiated, the rights of UK citizens here in this country would be guaranteed. They should not lose any rights whatsoever. We welcome the provisions in the Bill which will allow people in Ireland and the UK to continue to avail of social protection payments, such as pensions, and to access healthcare services. We stand for a universal healthcare system open to all, and naturally we stand for the right of anybody who is resident here, working here or even visiting to access such services, as Irish people can do in the UK, whether there as residents or as visitors. The Bill does appear to maintain social protection arrangements between the UK and this State. That is very important because many workers in Ireland would have worked in the UK at some point. We have many nurses who have had to work in the UK who have highlighted their plight recently.

The issue of students is one I would like the Minister of State to clarify. Students seem not to have the same level of definitive protection for their payments and rights in the two jurisdictions. The Bill contains provisions to allow for the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant to continue to be paid to Irish students who are studying in the UK. The Bill allows the Minister to extend the SUSI grant to include those studying in countries outside the EU. That is a very important provision because there are 10,000 or more students from this State in colleges in Britain and in the North and getting the SUSI grant is vital for them to continue their studies. Many do not qualify for the grant. In fact only 14% do. The Minister for Education and Skills has stated that it is his intention to allow students from the North to continue to be eligible for the free fees scheme. At present, a student must be living in the European Economic Area, EEA, or Switzerland for three of the past five years, and also meet citizenship criteria. However, at the Committee on Education and Skills the Minister did seem to qualify this, saying that this will be the case for current students and the intake later this year into colleges. However, he did not give any commitment to go beyond that and neither does this Bill. That would be very worrying for many young people and students. We say that there should be no conditions or loss of anyone's rights in these negotiations with the EU and the UK Government and the Government should commit that residency and citizenship in the UK be considered as being the same as EEA residency and citizenship in respect of the free fees scheme.

On voting, it is worrying that the Government is removing the right of UK citizens living here to vote in European Parliament elections under the European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2019 which I understand is on Committee Stage tomorrow. I have previously questioned the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government on this in written questions but did not get a definitive answer. The Government now appears to be definitive. Some 101 years on from the extension of the franchise, we should not be removing people's voting rights. There are a lot of British people living here who have lived here for a long time, who are married etc. and who have families here, and we should not remove their right to vote in the European elections.

The national rights of everyone on this island must be protected. What is happening this week is that the interests of business and the establishment are being very well protected. Historic levels of corporate welfare, with no guarantees about protecting workers, are being proposed, but who is representing the interests of workers in these negotiations? The answer is nobody. The trade union movement must defend the economic interests of working-class people in Ireland, North and South, and in Britain, and resolutely oppose any race to the bottom in workers' rights or standards, such as standards of food production, for example. It must prepare for industrial action if necessary to defend workers' jobs, wages, conditions and rights. The trade union movement, particularly in the North, is very important as it contains both Catholic and Protestant workers in a united organisation. It must also act to defend the unity of working-class people, and must not come down in favour of any agreement which widens divisions. It is also necessary to counter any increase in sectarian tension or conflict, and to prepare for protests, demonstrations, and industrial action by workers to challenge sectarian forces, as was done during the time of the Troubles in the North on occasion.

The Socialist Party, in the North and in the South, believes an emergency conference should be convened, with the widest participation of workers' representatives from workplaces across Ireland, North and South, and indeed Britain too where the Tories are planning a bargain basement Brexit. Such a conference could discuss how workers can organise together to protect their interests after Brexit happens. It could have a full and democratic discussion on how best to oppose both the EU and the attacks of the Irish establishment and of the Tory Government, which will use Brexit as a good crisis to drive down the pay and conditions of workers. If the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will not convene such a conference, those trade union bodies which are prepared to do so should take the initiative. The workers' movement must also reach out to trade unionists across Europe in the same way as Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil regularly appeal for help from their allies in the ruling elite in the EU.

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