Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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57. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of times the Labour Employer Economic Forum sub-group on collective bargaining has met in 2024; and if he can provisionally indicate when the action plan on collective bargaining coverage to be presented to the European Commission as part of its transposition of the EU directive on adequate minimum wages will be published. [16747/24]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the new Minister and Minister of State. I very much look forward to working with them and congratulate them both on their appointment. I know it is a very proud time not just for themselves but for their families, their local party and their communities. I congratulate them both and look forward to having a good working relationship, as I had with their predecessors.

My question is a very straightforward one. The Minister will come to know over time that it is an issue I take a very keen interest in and one I have followed very closely. It is in regard to the Labour Employer Economic Forum sub-group on collective bargaining. I follow very closely the work of that group.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy O'Reilly for her question and her kind wishes. We look forward to working with all Members across the House. As we have demonstrated in previous Departments, working relationships are very important. I and the Ministers of State, Deputies Higgins and Calleary, will do our very best in our respective roles.

The Labour Employer Economic Forum's sub-group on employment and enterprise has two groups under its auspices dealing with collective bargaining matters. The first group, chaired by the Minister of State with responsibility for business, employment and retail, is concerned with the implementation of the LEEF high-level working group's recommendations on collective bargaining. The second group, chaired by my official, is tasked with the preparation of an action plan on enabling conditions for collective bargaining as required by the directive on adequate minimum wages.

The implementation group on the high-level working group's recommendations on collective bargaining met on 16 November 2023. Several of the recommendations of the high-level working group's recommendations on collective bargaining are already being implemented, as follows: the Workplace Relations Commission, following a request from the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is now engaged with the social partners to draft a code of practice for good faith engagement; the Workplace Relations Commission has also been in contact with the social partners regarding the training recommendations in the report; and the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, wrote to the chair of the Labour Court on 18 January requesting that the court consider preparing rules, in consultation with the social partners, to govern the use of technical assessors by the court. The Labour Court has also been asked to consider whether the membership of the joint labour committees should be reviewed.

Two proposals arising from the LEEF high-level working group's recommendations on collective bargaining require significant legal changes: good faith engagement at enterprise level with statutory penalties; and the roles of the Labour Court if a joint labour committee cannot convene due to non-participation of one of the parties. My officials are now engaging on these issues in more detail with the Office of the Attorney General.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister's reference to the significant legal changes because we had an engagement with IBEC and the ICTU at the Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. During the course of that engagement, IBEC was very much of the view that no legislation would be required or very minimal legislation - I think it actually said “No” - whereas Congress took the view that legislation was very definitely going to be required. I note the Minister's predecessor had been a bit noncommittal on the issue but, because I feel it is inevitable, I think we will move towards a stage where there is going to be significant legislative change. Sinn Féin is committed to giving workers the right to organise because that is their very best bet, the safest they can be and the most power they can have at work.

Will the Minister indicate when the action plan on collective bargaining will be presented to the Commission as part of the transposition of this directive? I know we have had a change of personnel but a lot of work has been done on this and the momentum is there. It can be done and it should be done quickly. The Minister might give me an update on when it will be presented to the Commission.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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First, with regard to the legal issues, we were working with the Attorney General and additional external advice has been sought on the potential issues arising from it. We will keep the impetus going in that regard.

With regard to Article 4 of the directive and the 80% threshold, we are required to prepare an action plan in line with the directive and work is under way at the moment in that regard. The deadline that has been established by the Commission is that it has to be prepared and presented by the end of 2025. We in the Department absolutely believe that we will meet that deadline so work is under way on it currently and we will publish a draft plan in due course.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I will look at my calendar later and see if I can find what date “in due course” is. We need a date and if the Minister is not moving towards a date, that is a difficulty. The last time we discussed this, the previous Minister advised me that no targets had been set in regard to the 80%. That is a grave mistake. If the Government is not driving the targets, there is going to be drift. He also said, quite bizarrely – I am putting this back on the record because I challenged it at the time and will challenge it again if it is said - that “There is not the same demand for union membership and representation in some sectors of the Irish economy as there is in others.” Actually, all of the studies and surveys find that people are very positively disposed towards trade unions and they will join trade unions if the opportunity is presented to them. Indeed, I restate my opinion, which is that the best way to protect your rights and entitlements at work is not just to join a trade union but to be active in that trade union. The setting of targets has to be part of this process and dates are essential because the potential for drift is quite serious.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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We are very much committed to this process. Obviously, just a week into the job, I am trying to go through and evaluate all of these issues, but we are absolutely committed in the first instance. The Deputy can see that demonstrated by the establishment of the LEEF group chaired by the Taoiseach and the sub-group chaired by our own Department. We are working at pace on the issues that have come forward and I listed the five points where substantial work is under way. With regard to the directive, we will meet the target. We will have it on time, which is very important in regard to the action plan, and we are very much committed to the right to collective bargaining as a country. The Government has established that, in addition to the myriad of supports we have put in place for workers. The Government has been a very progressive government if judged objectively in terms of the supports it has put in for employees up and down this State. We will continue on that trajectory and support them in every way we can.