Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not wish to revive the complete debate we had at committee a couple of weeks ago which was weird for both of us, when we kept agreeing with each other across the committee room. I do not wish to be doing too much of that, but I fundamentally believe that sectoral employment orders, SEOs, are a strong part of what we have in our industrial relations sector and are crucial for our economy and the workers at hand. When they work, they work extremely well. I am very hopeful for the new SEO in the construction sector. This is something that is agreed upon between employees and employers alike. However, the Deputy is right. We are open to discussing and looking into both the role and the powers of the WRC, but appreciate fully that it requires resources in funding from the Department, as well as the employment of additional inspectors where required. If those efforts are made and put in place - the request has come regularly from other members of the trade union movement, as well as in this House - looking at the specific orders and their enforcement will make sense.

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