Derek McDowell (Labour)

I am glad the Minister of State has clarified the fact that trade union officials are effectively precluded from this. This is a return to the bad old days. We are dealing with large companies, not small concerns. If the information to be provided is to be meaningful, it is likely that it will be technical and complex. It is asking too much to expect individual employees in the workplace to be in a position to understand or appreciate the information they are given or bring to bear the expertise needed to make sense of it. I come back to the example of Aer Lingus where the trade unions have dealt in a very responsible way with management and look to effect change over a period of time based on the information that has been given to them by the employers. It cannot reasonably be expected of fulltime workers in a company that they will be in a position to assimilate such information and have the expertise to deal with it. It is, therefore, entirely unreasonable to exclude by legislation the possibility that people who are members of a trade union might choose to be represented by that body. That seems to be a very basic principle which it is within the power of the Minister of State to accept. I urge him to think twice about it.

I accept the point made by the Minister of State regarding collective bargaining and recognition. It is a much bigger issue. I do not expect him to suddenly do a volte-face in the context of this Bill, but it is an important matter. It is frustrating to consider legislation that is fine in principle but which will still enable employers who are seeking to frustrate worker organisations by allowing them to insist that it is not their practice to deal collectively. They may opt to appoint people of their own choosing who may be in a position for life, with whom they will deal exclusively, regardless of whether there is a trade union. I ask the Minister of State to think again. I appreciate he is not going to concede on the collective bargaining and recognition issue. However, he should consider allowing trade union officials to represent workers who are union members.

The Minister of State noted the requirement that pre-negotiated agreements be sanctioned or approved by a majority of workers voting in a ballot. As he will be aware, this is not the case because section 8 also provides that a majority of employee representatives may approve such agreements. Under section 8(3)(c), they can also be approved by some other predetermined mechanism not set out in the Bill. As a result, trade union members or employees may use means other than a vote to approve or extend pre-negotiated agreements.