John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to address this important issue not only for my constituents but also because of its wider implications for child minding in the State. The Minister of State may be aware of an ongoing dispute between Childminding Ireland and four IMPACT trade union members in my constituency of Wicklow. Unfortunately, the situation has escalated since I submitted this Topical Issue matter.

The four members have been on strike since 7 June 2016 but things have moved on slightly since I tabled this matter. Negotiations have commenced between the union and Childminding Ireland but there are some issues that still need to be raised here. The dispute arose because compulsory redundancies were notified to staff without prior consultation between Childminding Ireland and the IMPACT members in questions despite the fact that Childminding Ireland is not experiencing any financial difficulties and has produced no business case to justify these losses. The reason given by Childminding Ireland for these compulsory redundancies is that they are part of restructuring going on within the organisation. It is unclear to the staff involved why these redundancies are necessary under the restructuring. The Minister of State might have an update on the matter.

Four IMPACT trade union members have been on strike since 7 June at Childminding Ireland headquarters in Kilcoole in County Wicklow. Last week, those IMPACT members handed a letter to the Minister, Deputy Katherine Zappone, in her office in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs asking her to get involved because substantial State funding goes to Childminding Ireland. Some €360,000 is administered through Pobal to the organisation. The IMPACT trade union members asked the Minister to get involved to encourage Childminding Ireland to address the issue through the recognised structure - the Workplace Relations Commission. While Childminding Ireland has entered into talks with IMPACT members in recent days, a conclusion has yet to be reached. I welcome the talks between the IMPACT members and Childminding Ireland through the WRC and I hope there will be a successful conclusion.

Does the Minister of State have some answers to my questions? Will he clarify if the Minister, Deputy Zappone, used her office to put pressure on Childminding Ireland to engage in the recognised structure - the WRC - which is where this dispute should have been dealt with in the first place? Will the Minister of State clarify if the Minister, Deputy Zappone, had any contact with IMPACT? Why was this allowed to continue from when the staff first went on strike on 7 June until last Friday, 24 June, when negotiations commenced? Three weeks went by before Childminding Ireland began to engage with the relevant bodies. Will the Minister of State clarify the reason for this?

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Brady for raising this important matter and giving me an opportunity to respond. Ireland has a robust suite of employment rights legislation which offers extensive protection to employees. Those protections include the Protection of Employment Acts 1977 to 2007, which provide for a process of information and consultation between the employer and employee representatives in circumstances where a collective redundancy is proposed. There is also the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005 which give employees entitlements to specified notice periods or payment in lieu of such notice. There is the Payment of Wages Act 1991 which protects outstanding wages, holiday pay, commission and bonuses. In addition, the Redundancy Payment Acts administered by the Minister for Social Protection provide a minimum statutory redundancy payment.

The WRC, which Deputy Brady mentioned, is mandated to secure compliance with employment rights legislation. The WRC customer service section provides information on employment, equality and industrial relations rights and obligations and how to obtain redress where appropriate. Staff from the information unit of the WRC are available to meet with staff individually or collectively to discuss their employment rights, including matters related to redundancy. The WRC customer service section can be contacted at 1890 808090 and the website workplacerelations.iealso provides extensive information on employment rights. It is very important that the WRC provides that information.

The dispute at issue arose from the redundancy of a number of staff members due to the restructuring of the organisation. The parties are currently engaged with the WRC in an effort to resolve the dispute. Even the most intractable of disputes are capable of being resolved when both sides engage constructively and in good faith in a voluntary process. The principle of good faith implies that both sides in a dispute make every effort to reach an agreement and endeavour through genuine and constructive negotiations to arrive at a conclusion that is satisfactory to all concerned. Ireland's system of industrial relations is essentially voluntary in nature and responsibility for the resolution of industrial disputes between employers and workers, whether in redundancy or in collective disputes, rests with the employer, the workers and their representatives. The State provides the industrial relations dispute settlement mechanism to support parties in their efforts to resolve their differences. I urge both parties to continue this engagement in order to find an acceptable resolution to this matter.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for outlining what members of the union are acutely aware of. The union members have been trying to get Childminding Ireland to engage with them through the WRC and that is where the problem has been since the beginning of this industrial action on 7 June 2016. They are aware of what is there to help resolve the dispute but the problem is that a body that receives €360,000 in State funding blatantly ignored it for three weeks. These staff members are effectively locked out of their place of employment in Kilcoole. A body in receipt of substantial State funding failed to engage with the WRC.

I asked two specific questions about whether the Minister who has responsibility, Deputy Zappone, used her influence to exert pressure through her Department on Childminding Ireland to engage with the WRC to end this dispute with the staff members. It also raises broader issues on child minders. There are many low paid workers in that type of work and there is a lack of funding from local authorities and Government which has led to this type of dispute. There are far too many disputes like this one involving exploitation of employees.

There are bodies such as Childminding Ireland which are blatantly disregarding approved bodies that are there to deal with these workplace relation issues. The Minister, as far as I can see, has not used her influence whatsoever to encourage Childminding Ireland to get in there and deal with the issues that are before them. I do not know whether the Minister is able to answer that couple of specific questions.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I repeat that Ireland's system or addressing industrial relations disputes is voluntary in nature and the responsibility for the resolution of industrial relations lies ultimately with the employers, the workers and their respective representatives. I agree with the Deputy that disputes like this are regrettable for the parents involved. However, the restructuring and the current dispute is an operational matter for the employer and the board of Childminding Ireland. The Deputy asked about the Minister using her influence. I think it would be inappropriate for her to interfere in such matters.

While I have no direct role as the Minister of State with responsibility for employment and labour affairs in this matter, the dispute is with the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, which is actively involved here. I must tell Deputy Burke that the WRC is the most professional group I have ever encountered here. We have put in place a world-class system for fast and effective resolution of workplace relations. I call the WRC a one-stop shop which deals with all disputes and workplace relations.

In addition, the WRC also has a role in terms of advising workers of their rights and statutory entitlements and ensuring that the employer is compliant with employment rights legislation. I believe the dispute is at the right place at the moment with the WRC. As I said to the Deputy earlier, I encourage all parties to be actively involved. The Deputy has seen disputes out there that he thinks cannot be resolved, but when it comes down to the talks of the WRC in which everybody is involved, there is reason for compromise and work.

The WRC is independent and we have to let it do its work independently. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on company-specific matters at this stage. Let us wait and see what the WRC and the parties involved will come up with. The WRC was established in October 2015 and it has done a very good job so far in the disputes and the relations with which it has dealt. Let us wait and see. We urge all parties involved to ensure that there is a successful conclusion to this dispute in the interests of the child-minding facilities, the parents and the children involved.