Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

This May Day, we come together to honour the generations of workers who fought for fairness, dignity and decent pay and to recommit ourselves to that same struggle today. It is also a day to hold the Government to account for its betrayal of those very workers. Let me be brutally honest: the Government, including the Minister, has been shamefully untrustworthy when it comes to workers' rights. Before the last election, it made promises it knew it would not keep. There were seven promises to improve workers' lives, amounting to seven broken commitments already. The Government promised seven days' sick pay, pension improvements, free HRT, hikes in the minimum wage, the scrapping of the means test for carers and the enhancement of the old-age pension and the auto enrolment schemes. I have no doubt many more promises will be broken. In August, the former Government promised double child benefit, yet it is now quietly rolling back on such promises. It is abandoning workers when they need support most.

The Government's action, or, rather, its inaction, reveals its true priorities. Instead of standing up for workers, it is caving in to big business, pandering to the wealthy and turning its back on the ordinary people. It is using the global economic turbulence as an excuse for its failures, but the truth is that its failure to deliver on promises has left workers more vulnerable than ever. It promised fairness and progress but what we in Sinn Féin see is a Government that is content to watch workers struggle, watch working families fall into poverty and abandon the very commitments it made to improve lives. While it backtracks on promises, it continues to allow employers to exploit workers through sub-minimum youth rates, low pay and insecure jobs. Ireland still ranks as one of the worst in the EU for low wages. One in five workers is paid a low wage, a shocking statistic that has remained stubbornly unchanged despite decades of empty promises from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The Government is failing workers at every turn. It talks about creating a business-friendly environment, but what about creating a worker-friendly environment? Where is the support for those on the breadline? Where is the fight for fair pay, decent sick leave or secure pensions? Instead of fighting for them, the Government is retreating from commitments, abandoning workers to cope with the soaring cost of living, rising energy prices and a broken housing system. Let me be clear: the real scandal is how the Government is using economic uncertainty as a smokescreen, a cover for its own failures. It is using the crisis of the world economy as an excuse to turn its back on its own commitments, commitments that would have made a real difference for hard-working families. While it abandons workers, it continues to give handouts to the wealthy and corporations. It refuses to tax the super-rich, crack down on tax havens and ensure big business pays its fair share. Meanwhile, workers are left to pick up the pieces.

What about the so-called auto enrolment scheme? Sinn Féin has always supported it but the Government's approach is half-hearted and poorly managed. The Government talks about protecting retirement savings but leaves workers exposed to market volatility and a lack of transparency. It wants to privatise pensions and leave workers to fend for themselves.

The Government's betrayal is most stark when it comes to workers' rights to organise and bargain collectively. It has consistently failed to legislate for the right to unionise, outlaw the blacklisting of trade unionists and strengthen protections for workers facing unfair dismissals. While it cuts corners on workers' rights and continues to give tax breaks to developers and big business, with so many super junior Ministers it is more interested in lining its own pockets than building a fairer, more equal society.

I want to raise an issue that often goes unnoticed, namely that relating to volunteer workers. There are workers who give up their time in their own jobs and a day's wage to volunteer in organisations such as the Civil Defence, the Irish Red Cross, Meath River Rescue, and Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery. Over the past week in Trim, County Meath, which is in my constituency, I witnessed their outstanding work as they searched tirelessly for a missing person. These are the workers and volunteers who go above and beyond in their paid jobs and in their own time, risking their safety and dedicating their skills and energy to work for which they do not receive half enough credit. They are the true heroes and they deserve our respect, recognition and support. While the Government turns its back on their rights and futures, these volunteers, being selfless, brave and committed to our communities, exemplify the best of Ireland.

We have had enough of the Government's broken promises and betrayal of workers. We need a Government that will stand up for everyday people and the SMEs, not just the wealthy and powerful. We need to see genuine action, a living wage, proper sick pay, fair pensions, the right to collective bargaining and the right to organise without fear of retaliation.

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