Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 25, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “Further provision with respect to employees

558S. A rescue plan for an eligible company shall not contain provision that provides for either or both of the following:

(a) a reduction in the number of employees after the date from which the rescue plan would come into effect under section 558ZB or 558ZE, as the case may be, unless this has been done by agreement with employees and their recognised trade union, save in the case of voluntary redundancy; and

(b) a failure to honour a collective agreement.”.

This amendment is fairly straightforward. It pertains to the rescue plan for eligible companies under this legislation. The inclusion of this amendment is to ensure that if a rescue plan contains advice on restructuring of employees, this is not done without the agreement of the workers or their recognised trade unions, save in the case of a voluntary redundancy package because clearly a voluntary redundancy package, which is ideal if negotiated with the representative body, can in some instances be offered by an employer. If the Minister of State can confirm the rescue plan cannot include a reduction of the workforce without its agreement, I am happy and satisfied to withdraw this amendment.

We talk a lot about the owners of the businesses who, of course, are important as part of this measure. However, at the business end of these deals will be the workers and they may find themselves in a situation where the workforce numbers are to be depleted or reduced as per the plan. I want to ensure this is not done without recourse to consultation or agreement with workers. In my experience, workers can be imaginative and flexible. Nobody wants to be faced with the prospect of losing their job. I have seen first-hand instances of workers engaging proactively to ensure they are active participants in a rescue plan. It is not intended this would act as a mechanism to deter the rescue or anything like that. As I said, if the Minister of State can confirm the rescue plan cannot include a reduction of the workforce without its agreement, I am happy to withdraw this amendment.

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