Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I think Deputy McAuliffe was the first contributor. He raised pensions and pensioners' input into their pension issues. It has been an ongoing concern for pensioners generally across the economy, particularly for public sector pensioners or those in agencies and so forth. There is a sense that once they leave employment, they lack any real influence over their pensions in the future. I will raise that issue with the Minister for public expenditure, who governs pensions within the public service, and the Minister for Social Protection. There is a pensions ombudsman. A lot of frameworks that were not there in times past can help pensioners to access details about their pensions. It is a growing issue. Recently, the CIÉ pensions issue was resolved through good negotiations and the involvement of unions. That illustrates the degree to which unions can play a constructive role on behalf of workers in respect of their pensions.

Deputy Murphy raised the PPPs. I presume and draw from my conclusions that he supports the decision not to go ahead with PPPs that were too expensive in terms of the cost per house. That is the decision the Minister for housing took when he looked at the figures that came in after tender. They were excessive and could not be justified at that stage.

Deputy Coppinger raised an issue. I cannot comment on any specific company. In Ireland, we are working through the LEEF on a collective bargaining action plan. The directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union was published in 2022. It was transposed by Ireland by 15 November 2024. Under Article 4, the directive aims to promote collective bargaining on wages in all member states. In addition, each member state with a collective bargaining coverage rate below a threshold of 80%, as in Ireland, shall provide a framework of enabling conditions for collective bargaining and establish an action plan to promote collective bargaining. A technical group was established with the Department of enterprise and social partners in 2023 to consider the possible content of Ireland's action plan. A public consultation was also held on the content of the action plan. That closed in May this year. The Department is now reviewing submissions. They will help to guide the finalisation of proposals, both legislative and administrative, which may be considered for inclusion in Ireland's action plan. It will be published by the end of 2025 in line with the requirements of the EU directive.

Deputy McGuinness raised the question of investment in Waterford. I have to disagree; I think there has been significant investment in Waterford over the past five years in particular. There is now a university in the south east, with a strong campus in Waterford benefiting from significant investment. Waterford University Hospital, likewise, has benefited from significant investment. The North Quays project in the urban regeneration and development fund has been a significant investment. On FDI, the IDA is focused on Waterford. Some good companies have located there, across life sciences and financial services, which is positive. You cannot just go on one year because in some years there could be a significant increase and in others there can be a lapse. An individual company could have a decline.

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