Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Lawlor for moving his Bill. I do appreciate the concern he has around this issue, and it is laudable. I stand before Members to debate a Private Members’ Bill that proposes to amend provisions governing the operation and constitution of joint labour committees. This Bill seeks to address situations where employers or workers fail to engage in consultation with the Labour Court, by granting the Labour Court additional powers to appoint members to the JLC whom it considers representative of either side’s interests, without requiring them to necessarily be employers' or workers’ representatives. It also provides for a scenario where such appointments are not practicable that the Court will formulate its own employment regulation order.

After careful consideration, the Government will oppose this Bill for several compelling reasons, and I will set these out. I will also share the Government’s broader plans to strengthen support for collective bargaining in Ireland over the coming years. The programme for Government sets out a clear commitment to publish an action plan on the promotion of collective bargaining by the end of 2025. This initiative will be in line with the EU directive on adequate minimum wages. The directive is before the Court of Justice of the European Union, but Ireland has reaffirmed its strong commitment to workers’ rights by proceeding with the development of this action plan, regardless of the outcome of that ruling.

As outlined in the directive, the action plan will establish a clear timeline and concrete measures to progressively increase the rate of collective bargaining coverage. The process will have full respect for the autonomy of the social partners and ensure ongoing engagement with all relevant stakeholders. Officials in my Department are actively working with the social partners in shaping the content and overall direction of the action plan. Moreover, a public consultation was held from April to May of this year to gather broad input on its content. The Government believes that introducing major legislative changes at this early stage risks undermining the integrity of the consultative process. The action plan is intended to be comprehensive, identifying both legislative and non-legislative measures that can enhance collective bargaining while promoting competitiveness, supporting productivity and ensuring a level playing field for all employers and workers. Any sort of premature legislative intervention at this stage will be a disruption to the balanced, inclusive approach this Government has always been committed to.

Deputy Lawlor, in his proposal, highlights the challenge posed when the employer side exercises a veto, potentially stalling progress on setting rates of pay and conditions of employment for employees in certain sectors. On this point, I acknowledge that a very similar proposal was made by the LEEF high-level working group on collective bargaining in 2022. The LEEF report recommended that decision-making powers would be transferred from the JLCs to the Labour Court in an instance where parties from the employer and-or employee sides will not engage in the JLC process. The LEEF report then recommended that the Labour Court, after giving the social partners an opportunity to engage, make a recommendation to the Minister to adopt an employment regulation order for new pay rates and terms and conditions in the sector.

My Department’s analysis of this LEEF proposal indicates that implementing this proposal would require significant legislative reform. It would fundamentally alter the role of the JLCs, moving them away from forums of voluntary and independent collective bargaining and into something quite different. Moreover, it also raises complex questions regarding the type of evidence that would be required by the Labour Court to justify such a recommendation. It would also have to be considered how this process would differ from the existing sectoral employment order mechanism, which already allows substantially representative unions or employer bodies to initiate a review. It has been the consistent policy of successive Governments to promote collective bargaining through both legislation and the development of an institutional framework supporting a voluntary system of industrial relations premised upon freedom of contract and freedom of association. Ireland’s long-standing voluntarist system has served us well over the decades, helping to contribute to industrial peace and stability. It has also enhanced Ireland’s attractiveness as a major investment location and led to a co-operative environment for resolving disputes.

The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 defines "collective bargaining" as comprising voluntary engagements or negotiations with the object of reaching agreement regarding working conditions or terms of employment, or non-employment, of workers. The freedom of association and the right to organise and bargain collectively are also guaranteed in a number of international instruments that the State has ratified and is, therefore, bound to uphold under international law. For example, Article 6 of the European Social Charter provides a right to bargain collectively that is to be promoted through joint consultation between workers and employers. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights also explicitly guarantees a right to collective bargaining and action by affirming that both employers and workers have the right to negotiate collective agreements and to take collective decisions to protect their interests.

The WRC and the Labour Court are both independent statutory offices under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. They are central pillars of Ireland's industrial relations and employment rights frameworks and play crucial roles in maintaining industrial harmony and resolving workplace disputes in Ireland. They provide impartial mechanisms for resolving disputes and only intervene when voluntary efforts have reached an impasse. In particular, the role of the Labour Court is to act as a court of last resort, making recommendations where all other avenues have been exhausted. Likewise, the WRC intervenes only in exceptional circumstances and at all times, ensuring that the autonomy of the social partners is not compromised.

I believe that a strong and well-functioning collective bargaining system supports productivity and fair wages, especially in low-paid sectors. To give one example, the 2024 SEO for the construction sector came into effect on 1 August and will introduce higher rates of pay for craft and general construction workers. Their pay increased by 3.4% in August 2025 and will increase again by 3.2% in August 2026. The sectoral employment order process is a statutory wage-setting mechanism provided for in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 and based on the principles of collective bargaining.

In addition, this year a new employment regulation order came into effect covering workers in the security sector, and a new ERO will come into effect for the contract cleaning sector in October 2025. These agreements demonstrate how effective the joint labour committee scheme can be when representatives of employees and employers voluntarily negotiate together to identify a mutually beneficial agreement.

Turning once again to the legislative proposals raised by Deputy Lawlor, I must express concern about the significant administrative burden that would be placed on the Labour Court and the WRC if these proposals were introduced. If the Labour Court were to assume decision-making powers in the absence of engagement from either side, several issues would arise. First of all, the risk of litigation would be high as employers may challenge the validity of orders made without proper consultation. There is also the risk that any employment regulation orders that lack sectoral buy-in or proper consultation from any particular industry representative or employees may be ignored or contested. This would effectively undermine the core functions of the Labour Court and WRC as they begin to face increased volumes of contested cases. Such proposals could erode the voluntary nature of our industrial relations scheme, replacing it with a more adversarial and less effective model.

This Government has upheld workers' rights through a comprehensive suite of employment legislation. Our laws in this area are kept under review to reflect both national and international developments, including at European Union, Court of Justice and International Labour Organization levels. Some recent employment law developments include the introduction of statutory sick leave, the right to request remote work, protections for workers' tips and gratuities, and the recent substantial increases in the national minimum wage. This year will also see further progression with the introduction of a new seasonal employment permit, the introduction of an automatic pension enrolment system and the expansion of the gender pay gap regime. These demonstrate the Government's continuing commitment to a safe working environment, fair treatment and fair wages for the lowest paid workers in our economy.

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