Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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5. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when the action plan on collective bargaining will be published; the timeline for publication of the underpinning legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51026/25]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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My question relates to the publication of the action plan on collective bargaining that underpins the EU directive on an adequate minimum wage. When will we see the contents of this plan? What is the timeline for the delivery of the legislation underpinning that?

There is a commitment in the programme for Government to finalise this action plan by the end of 2025. It will be October next week and the Minister is running out of road in this regard.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question, which I appreciate. It concerns a very important area for us as a Government and one that under the programme for Government we have committed to finalising the action plan on the promotion of collective bargaining by the end of 2025, in line with the EU directive on adequate minimum wages. Work on developing the action plan in conjunction with our social partners is currently ongoing. Under Article 4, the directive aims to promote collective bargaining on wages in all member states. Each member state in which the collective bargaining coverage rate is less than a threshold of 80%, as is the case in the majority of member states, including Ireland, shall provide for a "framework of enabling conditions" for collective bargaining and shall also establish an action plan to promote collective bargaining by the end of 2025.

The European Commission expert group's report on transposition of the directive is clear that the design of the framework of enabling conditions and the content of the action plan is entirely up to member states, in consultation with the social partners. A technical working group has been established in the Department with officials and the social partners to examine what will be considered for inclusion in Ireland’s action plan, and the group has met regularly this year. The work of this group is now at an advanced stage and is essential in developing the content of the action plan. It met as recently as last week and will be meeting again shortly. I expect the action plan on collective bargaining to be published over the next couple of months once this work has been completed.

We were also very clear regarding the case coming forward in relation to the adequate minimum wage directive. I made it very clear that irrespective of the result of that we are pressing ahead and will have our plan together. In relation to the consultation open from 14 April to 12 May, I note we received about 80 valid submissions, to which we have responded. Working with our social partners and through the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, is very important. There will also be challenges from both sides as the plan is being worked on, but I want to get the best plan we can by the end of the year and I am very committed to achieving that.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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This is absolutely critical because we are at a juncture regarding how we will shape our economy going forward. We cannot have an economy without workers. We need to stop viewing it as workers versus employers because the benefits of collective bargaining are huge. I commend the campaign in this regard which is being run by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, in particular, and the presentation yesterday in the audiovisual room. People will be surprised to see that although there is a constitutional right for people to be part of a union, there is no legal obligation on the employer to engage with that union. We have an imbalance there that needs to be addressed. Investing in SMEs and microbusinesses to rescue jobs and protect our communities should be a priority for all our parties. It is certainly a priority for Sinn Féin.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh again for her comments on the matter. As I said, it is one area that through the programme for Government we are very much committed to. The Deputy quite rightly spoke about participation in the various forums. Deliberations will be ongoing on that and how we can address it in our action plan. We will be doing that. We have got a lot out of the LEEF structure in terms of the social partners. It is a good mechanism to air these issues. We will not solve everything, however. I can be absolutely honest about that. We will, though, give our best effort to this plan to build confidence and show the Government's capacity regardless of the uncertainty that was there through the legal challenge. We have committed to pressing ahead. I think that is an important statement on how we value workers and value their right to collective bargaining and how we want to give people that opportunity and put in place the conditions where that can grow.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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Six of the top ten FDI companies enable union representation. We know for a fact that it increases respect for management. It increases as union recognition increases. We need to take heed of the good jobs Bill in the North as well, because that is really making inroads in this area in terms of union recognition. As a party, Sinn Féin has long stood in support of trade union recognition and the fundamental right of workers to be represented by their unions. I acknowledge the work of my colleague, Deputy Louise O'Reilly, in this area, as well as the work of my former colleague, a former Senator, Paul Gavan, with regard to the support and progression of trade unions and trade union representatives. We on this side of the House are committed to the rights of workers right across this island. Again, this speaks to the all-island economy. We need congruence of workers' rights across the island too.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I absolutely agree that quality jobs are so important in our economy. I think this will be one of the areas we will focus on during our Presidency of the EU in the second half of next year. That will give us a key opportunity. We must remember that in the action plan and under the adequate minimum wage directive, MEPs from my party, including Regina Doherty and others, played a huge role in really working on that directive and getting agreement in the European Parliament. We are, therefore, very keen to try to bring forward the best possible plan that we can. When our EU Presidency term does come, we are also very keen to focus on high-quality work, because this is what our economy should be about. This is why we are very focused on it at all times. I have been part of the past number of Governments and I know the huge improvements we have had for lower-paid workers. That must be acknowledged. When people challenge us on what areas there have been improvements in, it must be acknowledged we have banned zero-hour contracts, which were totally wrong, brought in tips legislation to protect vulnerable workers and we now have a sick pay scheme. Additionally, we have auto-enrolment, which will future-proof people and their retirement plans. The State will be stepping up to the mark over the next number of years. Those are key improvements in the economy, including watching out for lower-paid workers, while also trying to enhance the capacity to get more high-quality jobs into the country, because this will be critical for us all to realise our ambitions in life.