Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I move amendment No. 15:

In page 6, lines 24 and 25, to delete subsection (1) and substitute the following new subsection:

"6.—(1) Without prejudice to section 11, and subject to subsections (3) and (4), the employer shall arrange for the election or appointment of one or more than one employees' representative under this section.".

This group of amendments has two purposes. First, there is a need to clarify that employee representatives are not to be taken as managerial in all circumstances. We touched on this subject earlier. Approximately 25% of private sector employees are trade union members and we should, therefore, not automatically assume that everyone will be in the future. The Bill makes it clear that a direct system of communication with employees is equally acceptable but the section as it stands seems to imply that a system of employee representatives must be established in all cases.

Second, we must clearly spell out that, in all cases, the employee representatives are people who are employees of that employer and not outsiders, for example, trade union employees. In industrial relations, it is quite appropriate for employees to be represented by professional trade unions or other workers but not so in this case. We are discussing information and consultation, not negotiation. The issue is one of informing and consulting the employees in that particular company. When we speak about such, we should make it clear that we mean organisational insiders are the people involved.

I spoke about the fear of those who consider coming to Ireland to open their businesses. We are in competition with countries inside and outside Europe. We should not automatically assume that someone who holds the tradition of taking care of one's employees' relationships to such an extent the employees do not feel obliged to have a trade union should have one. If we are not clear on this issue, there is a danger that we will walk into a situation whereby we would be installing and enforcing trade unions on employees who do not necessarily want them. The big difference is that this relates to consultation and information rather than negotiation. I made the point on Second Stage that nobody should be in any doubt that it is not the employees' job to accept responsibility for running the company; that is the employer's job. It is the employees' job to be involved, consulted and informed about this area. It is important to realise that if the employees do not wish to have a trade union, they should not be obliged to have one.