Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing Labour Court recommendations. As I said, Ireland's system of industrial relations is voluntary in nature. The Deputy will be aware that responsibility for the resolution of all industrial relation issues lies with employers and workers and their respective representatives, as appropriate. It is important to make that point. We are very fortunate in Ireland in that arising out of the industrial relations system we have developed, there has been industrial peace in recent times. It has been the consistent policy of successive Governments to promote the development of an institutional framework supportive of the voluntary system of industrial relations. The Deputy will know there has been consistency among the social partners, and the terms and conditions of employment of workers have been best determined through the process of voluntary bargaining between employers and employees and between employers' associations and trade unions or staff associations. This approach has served us well down through the years, which we have seen in a large number of high-profile industrial disputes.

In general, our laws do not try to impose a solution on parties in a trade dispute. Rather, they are designed to help support the parties in resolving their differences. There will be differences. The State has, by and large, confined its role to underpinning voluntarism through the provision of a framework and institutions in order that good industrial relations can prosper. As I said in my opening statement, the vast majority of industrial relations disputes are settled voluntarily. Where an employer and employee representatives come together and enter a voluntary agreement to resolve their differences, that is a win-win for both sides.

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