Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Michael Ahern, who is here on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey. I also welcome his officials to the House.

I commend the Department on bringing forward the Industrial Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2003. I congratulate the Minister of State on the legislation which has arisen out of commitments in Sustaining Progress as agreed between the Government and the social partners and which has been very successful. I am confident the Bill will enhance the effectiveness of existing dispute resolution procedures where collective bargaining arrangements are not in place, that it will strengthen the industrial relations procedures giving effect to the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001, and voluntary work, through the provision of third party industrial relations machinery.

I am pleased that the Government recognises the need for a dispute settlement mechanism in cases where employees wish to be represented by a trade union or an excepted body but where collective bargaining does not occur. I am also satisfied that the Bill has arisen from extensive talks between ICTU, IBEC, the Departments of Finance and Enterprise, Trade and Employment, industry, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland the aim of which was to devise a mechanism for resolving such disputes. The reluctance of the Government and lawmakers to indulge in the temptation to impose solutions is welcome and this ideology has served us well over the years through voluntary bargaining procedures between employers and employees. We should continue this good practice in so far as possible to facilitate and provide solid foundations for conflict resolution.

In 2002, a year in which the number of industrial disputes recorded by the Central Statistics Office reached a 30-year low, referrals to the Labour Court increased by 6% compared to the previous year. Since 2000, total referrals to the Labour Court have increased by more than 20%. The court completed 13% more cases in 2002 than in 2001. Public sector organisations, especially in the health and transport sectors, accounted for more than a quarter of industrial relations cases completed during the year. This is a symptom of the revolving door phenomenon where parties involved in a dispute fail to acknowledge the role of the Labour Court as a court of last resort and use it as a staging post rather than the last step in the dispute resolution process. On many occasions the court has expressed its concern, which I share, that this practice damages the operation of industrial relations procedures generally.

This is the background against which we must examine the Bill. This legislation is not the first employee related legislation which has arisen from Sustaining Progress. Earlier this year the Redundancy Payments Act provided for a doubling, and in some cases a quadrupling, of statutory entitlements in this area. The Government and the Tánaiste must be congratulated on the speedy dispatch of that legislation. The Minister of State with responsibility for taking this legislation through the House has also acted to give equal rights to fixed contract workers.

The Redundancy Payments Act was a great step forward. It has been an enormous help to those unfortunate to lose their jobs and the Government should be commended on its introduction. This legislation does not have a high profile and has not attracted much media attention. However, it is of great significance and has met support from all sides of the House, because Members realise how important it is in the long term. We look back on the grim days when many disputes brought us to our knees. I recall the electricity disputes when there was no continuity in supply. What occurred in the 1970s was frightening and this new forward looking legislation is welcome.

The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2002 and the code of practice on voluntary dispute resolutions instigated a new system, more than two years ago, to resolve issues in disputes where there was no existing arrangements for collective bargaining. However, there has been a considerable degree of dissatisfaction and irritation with these measures due to a lack of a timeframe for dispute resolution for the existing code of practice. Frustration also exists because to refer a dispute to the Labour Court, the onus is on the union or excepted body to show the employer has failed to act in good faith.

There is also discontent with the length of time taken to process cases through the court before obtaining legally enforceable Circuit Court orders. Accordingly, this new legislation will enable the Labour Court to examine cases where the specific timeframe to be set out in a new code of practice on voluntary dispute resolution has been acceded. It will also enable the Labour Court to act where the Labour Relations Commission has acceded that no further work on its part will assist settlement of the dispute. To facilitate this the Labour Court will be able to link its preliminary and substantive hearings where it considers this to be correct procedure.

I welcome the provision in the Bill which prohibits any victimisation of employees arising from membership of, or activity on behalf of, a trade union, from a manager discharging his or her managerial functions or from disputes relating to trade union recognition. We must stand by the fundamental right of an individual to join a trade union. My father was a member of the Cuffe Street union of stonemasons and bricklayers. He was proud to hold that membership throughout his life and like most members of trade unions he was also a member and supporter of the Fianna Fáil Party, which always represented the cause of this country's workers. I became a member of SIPTU and I am delighted to be in this union. I am also on the labour panel of the House so it is appropriate that I have an opportunity to speak on this important Bill.

I am pleased that SIPTU takes individual membership. Many companies which do not recognise unions have employees who are individual members of the largest trade union in Ireland, which gives them great support and service at certain times. I encourage all employees, irrespective of the companies involved, to obtain the support of the union movement, which has been most progressive in this country to date.

I commend the Minister on getting us to this stage. Various sections have been carefully outlined to us by the Minister of State which faithfully parallel section 8.9 of Sustaining Progress. I look forward to the early enactment of the legislation, which arises from the experience of the 2001 Act which threw up a number of issues in need of technical resolution.

It will speed up the process of resolving disputes as originally intended under the 2001 Act. This is an improvement on the Act and will give clarity and early resolution to many of the problems which bedevil companies. If disputes drag on, parties can become more entrenched than need be the case. Time limits to the resolution of disputes will advance the best scenario for resolution and enhance the industrial relations machinery of the companies involved and the State apparatus.

The current dispute between the Prison Officers Association, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Prison Service should be resolved. I am disappointed it is taking so long to resolve the issues involved, which have caused hardship to staff and prisoners, particularly prisoners from the Curragh and Spike Island which have been closed. The introduction of the Bill provides an opportunity for all concerned to sit around the table and resolve matters and this must be done sooner rather than later. I hope all concerned, the Prison Officers Association, its officials and the Minister, Deputy McDowell, will sit down and resolve this issue which is causing great distress and concern to prison officers, their families and the prisoners to whom we have a responsibility.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, and congratulate him on the legislation, which I commend to the House.