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

That is welcome. If the Minister is looking for case studies, he could look at the case of the Murphy 4, who were dismissed from Murphy International Limited in Limerick in circumstances they say arose from their trade union activities. It is my opinion that if the redress under the Unfair Dismissals Act had been more appropriate, that could have acted as a deterrent in this instance and perhaps these workers would be still employed. They face a lengthy wait. The Minister and the Government talk a lot about the industrial relations machinery. It is great, but people have to wait. It is a bit like the health service: it is great when you get in, but you have to wait a long time to get in. For a worker who has been unfairly dismissed, it is a long wait with the likelihood of getting just four weeks' pay at the end of it, and that is if you manage to prove it.

As I said, it is hard to prove. There is no deterrent currently. It was a deterrent when it was put in place because the likelihood was that the worker would not have been re-employed quickly. Now the likelihood is that the worker will be re-employed quickly, there must be a deterrent element. I draw the Minister's attention to the case of the Murphy 4 and ask that he looks at it in the context of any review.

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