Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

One of the reasons there has been a great deal of support for the Taoiseach and the Government in the context of Brexit from parties across the House is that we had a model of economic and social structure and oversight that has allowed national debates on issues of national importance with the aim of progressing economic and social issues.

I am disappointed that more progress has not been made with this Bill. The Economic and Social Research Institute has made a significant contribution to the debate on how we should address the housing crisis. Bringing forward the Bill would give us the opportunity to relaunch social partnership and social dialogue, though I am aware that Fine Gael has problems with these. The outcome of Brexit is likely to be difficult for much of the United Kingdom and, in different areas, for Ireland. As a result, having a social partnership structure through a national economic and social development office, under the oversight of the Department of the Taoiseach, would offer us an opportunity to look at where we want to go and what kind of society we want to have. In particular, we could examine issues like working people being paid properly and moving to a living wage rather than just being paid a minimum wage, and providing training and education opportunities for young people and the 8%, 11%, 15 % and 25% of those who, in certain areas, are unemployed in an economy in which the overall unemployment rate is close to 5%. This would be an important focus for a national economic and social development office. Does the Taoiseach intend to bring forward this legislation or has it been permanently parked until there can be some agreement that it would contribute to national economic and social development?

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