Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take questions Nos. 1 to 10, inclusive, together.

The Government recognises the importance of regular and open engagement with all sectors of society. Social dialogue between Government, trade unions and other representative groups takes place through structures like the national economic dialogue, the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council and many sectoral groups and with Ministers and Departments directly.

In recent months, I have had a number of engagements with social partners in a variety of different formats. This includes through mechanisms such as the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, which brings together representatives of employers and trade unions with Ministers to exchange views on economic and employment issues as they affect the labour market and which are of mutual concern. LEEF, which I chair, has met regularly to facilitate discussions on ongoing issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic and our economic recovery. The most recent meeting of LEEF took place on 3 February 2022 and discussions included Covid-19, economic outlook including inflation and the work of the LEEF subgroups.

Under the auspices of LEEF, there has been significant progress on issues such as the introduction of statutory sick pay, work place safety during Covid-19 and the establishment of a high level review of collective bargaining. In addition to Government representation, the membership of LEEF is made up of a labour delegation led by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, and an employer delegation led by IBEC, which includes the Construction Industry Federation, CIF, and Chambers Ireland. This has been the case since the formation of LEEF in 2016 and reflects long-standing and established arrangements for engagement between Government, employers and trade unions on labour market issues.

LEEF is also just one of a wide range of engagement mechanisms which allow stakeholders make their views known to Government. There are many other national and sectoral business and employer organisations involved in other fora. Other engagements I have had with social partners include a series of meetings last year with representatives from the environmental pillar, community and voluntary pillar and farming and agriculture pillar to discuss how social dialogue can be strengthened as well as issues of concern to those sectors. I also met with those representing the fishing sector.

I look forward to continuing my engagements with the social partners in the period ahead as we continue to strengthen social dialogue and work collaboratively to tackle major challenges facing the country.

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