Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. She has always been interested in industrial relations. As I have said in reply to parliamentary questions, Ireland’s system of industrial relations is essentially voluntary in nature and the responsibility for the resolution of industrial disputes between employers and workers rests in the first instance with the employer, the workers and their representatives. It has been the consistent policy of successive Governments to promote collective bargaining through the laws of the country and through the development of an institutional framework supportive of a voluntary system of industrial relations that is premised on freedom of contract and freedom of association. There are an extensive range of statutory provisions designed to back up the voluntary bargaining process. The freedom of association and the right to organise and bargain collectively are also guaranteed in a number of international instruments that the State has ratified and which it is, therefore, bound to uphold under international law.

Since 1946, the Labour Court has provided an industrial relations service whereby disputes that parties have been unable to resolve themselves or with the assistance of the Workplace Relations Commission can be voluntarily referred to the Labour Court for an opinion in the form of a recommendation of the court, which, as the Deputy knows, is not binding on the parties. The vast majority of industrial relations recommendations are accepted voluntarily by the parties. The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015, which came into effect on 1 August 2015, provides a clear and balanced mechanism by which the fairness of the employment conditions of workers in their totality can be assessed in employment where collective bargaining does not take place and brings clarity and certainty for employers in terms of managing their workplaces in this respect. It also provides strong protections for workers who invoke the provisions of the 2001 and 2004 Industrial Relations Acts or who have acted as a witness or a comparator for the purposes of these Acts. It ensures that where an employer is engaged in collective bargaining with an internal excepted body, as opposed to a trade union, that body must satisfy the Labour Court as to its independence of the employer.

The legislation ensures the retention of Ireland’s voluntary system of industrial relations. However, it also ensures that where an employer chooses not to engage in collective bargaining, either with a trade union or an internal excepted body, and where the number of employees on whose behalf the matter is being pursued is significant, an effective framework is in place that allows a trade union to have the remuneration and terms and conditions of its members in that employment assessed against relevant comparators and determined by the Labour Court, if necessary.

While I am amending the Industrial Relations Act 1990 to ensure An Garda Síochána has access to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court, I see no case for the Act to be amended regarding the specific issue to which the Deputy has referred.

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