Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The omission of the material contained in subsection (30), which is a ministerial amendment, was done inadvertently. Although people may think it was deliberate, it was an inadvertence pointed out to me by ICTU, which came to the Department. When it was pointed out to us we realised it has simply slipped off the word processor. That is the explanation. There is nothing more sinister to it.

In regard to gardaí joining a trade union, I do not accept that is legitimate. As I said earlier, gardaí have significant powers but I do not accept that we can extend the notion of industrial disputes to the Garda Síochána. It is a disciplined force, just like PDFORRA is a representative body for ranks in the Permanent Defence Force. I do not propose to have a situation where industrial action is taken by the Defence Forces or by the Garda Síochána. It is something I could not contemplate because the Garda is a disciplined force upon which the State relies. Sometimes it has to intervene, tangentially, in industrial relations disputes.

Sometimes gardaí have to cross pickets or arrest picketers or whatever which is not to say that members of the Garda Síochána cannot have as sympathetic a personal view as they like of the whole notion of the trade union movement, which is a valuable part of social partnership in our society. We must remember that if we are to have a sovereign Government, it must be in a position to carry out its wishes and not be inhibited in that respect by industrial relations considerations. That is not to say that there is not a sophisticated scheme of industrial relations relating to Garda conditions which operates day in and day out but it is one that is special, sui generis, and I cannot go down the road of allowing members of the Garda Síochána to join trade unions or become subject to industrial relations law.