Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)

I rise today not merely to contribute to the passing of a technical amendment but also to underscore a broader truth the legislation reveals, which I am sure this Government would prefer was overlooked. At the heart of this Bill it seeks to strengthen the protection for employees where their employers become insolvent, and it finally gives fuller effect to the Directive 2008/94/EC. This directive was adopted by the European Parliament 17 years ago. Let us sit with that fact - it was 17 years ago. I put it to the Ceann Comhairle that the question before us is not just about insolvency arrangements but it is about the State's performance in regulatory delay and a creeping culture of legislation and legislative procrastination that has taken root under the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Lowry Independents' stewardship.

When an employer fails, it is not just a simple event or a simple business event. Wages are unpaid, pensions are frozen, and entitlements are contested. In far too many cases, it is only through litigation or European pressure that the State grudgingly moves to close a gap it should have anticipated. That is not governance. It is reactionary. This Bill, belated but necessary, and although it may remain a patchwork response to an epidemic diffusion of bureaucratic breakdown, provides the deeming of insolvency in a case where the employer enters into an arrangement while technically not insolvent. This is welcome but it is an indictment of how long the workers in this country have been left exposed legally through ambiguity and administrative neglect.

While the amendment addresses for some the calculation of payment into the Social Insurance Fund, it does not address the deeper question of why we, in this country, are always legislating under pressure. Why are we, in this country, reactive instead of proactive? Where is the rigorous audit of State conducted in the delayed implementation of the European standard? As a centrist, we respect the values of efficiency and legal certainty and the respect of contract and obligation. On all three counts, this State has failed. This State has failed its workers and exposed itself repeatedly to legal challenge. We in Independent Ireland support any effort that protects and supports the rights of workers affected under employer insolvency but we also deem that administrative reforms are much needed in the State so that the Irish complacency with the European obligation is not something dragged reluctantly through this Government but is a matter of routine and professional governance and good governance.

This Bill is a good step forward but let us not flatter ourselves in this House. It is a step taken too late - 17 years too late to my mind - and is too small by a Government that works too slowly.

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