Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister may be aware that Balfour Beatty is closing down its operations in Ireland. It has had a contract for years with Gas Networks Ireland that is paid for by public money. That contract is being taken over by GMC, which is seeking 70 redundancies from the Balfour Beatty workforce. The Minister may not be aware that GMC is bullying and intimidating workers into taking redundancy on the basis that if they do not take it now, they will lose out in a year's time. One of the reasons GMC is giving for these redundancies is that they are a consequence of climate change. Does the Minister agree that this is unacceptable on two counts, namely, on the basis of just transition for workers and also on the principles of social dialogue? The company should be forced to negotiate with the trade union, SIPTU, for a decent transfer of business, TUPE, arrangement and for redundancies for workers if they want them, not because they are being forced to take them. GMC is receiving public money to carry out work-----

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