Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The wording used in the published text has been used in previous legislation, that is, in the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Act 1996 and it has not presented any difficulties. It would obviously be preferable that employers and employees avail of the flexibility of the legislation to negotiate and agree information and consultation arrangements. We need to remember that a fallback provision exists in Schedules 1 and 2. It seems to me that in a situation where the parties fail to reach agreements, we ought to have the fallback provision and that in that provision, it is necessary to be more prescriptive than it might be in other circumstances. That is why I want to use this wording.