Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for his outline of the developments. While I am glad to have the opportunity to make a statement on this matter I would prefer to see us debate Bills that would pass into law and make a real difference to workers rather than talk generally in the manner in which we are today. I wish to address two relevant Bills, one of which we have recently dealt with in this House, namely, the Employment Permits Bill and the Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill. It has always made good business sense, as the Minister of State has said, to keep employees informed about what is going on. Any manager knows that to keep morale and productivity high he or she must make everyone feel like a stakeholder, a fully paid up member of the team.

I believe in the worker shareholding agenda. In a civilised society we cannot view a firm's labour force as anything other than an integral part of the decision making process. Workers are not just a resource to be turned on and off but a vital component in any management team and the provision of information to them is a vital component in any management strategy. Under the Bill, employers will have to provide information and consultation on issues such as the probable development of a firm's activities, the structure and future of employment in the business and any decisions likely to lead to major changes in work organisation or contracts.

The Bill also obliges employers to provide enough information to enable worker representatives to make adequate preparations for consultation. Employers must begin negotiations to set up information and consultation procedures once 10% of employees make such a request. The Labour Court will be able to investigate disputes about the operation of agreements. Employers could face fines of up to €30,000 for breaches of the proposed legislation. This Bill is part of a suite of workers rights' legislation that has been brought to us from Europe. It is because of legislation like this that Fine Gael is passionately pro-European. It is worth reminding the country that those on the far left who oppose the European project are being deceitful when they say the EU is anything but a social project. It has been a leading force in better working conditions for Irish employees.

Deputy Perry, among others, raised the following issue in the Dáil recently. The Bill excludes companies employing fewer than 50 employees. The Minister of State outlined sound reasons for this when I dealt with the Bill here and we concurred. Small firms in particular must be protected from over-regulation. Due to their competitive disadvantage, and because they tend to be indigenous, the Government must protect them at all costs but we must ensure that those who work in small firms are not treated as inferior to those who work in large companies. I know the Minister of State does not intend to permit that.

The fact that an employer has only 45 workers on his or her books does not mean that he or she should be treated with anything less than the respect and dignity of those who work for the Microsofts and Coca-Colas of this world. I have heard the Minister of State's views on how we can ensure that the provision of information can be extended to everyone and he struck the right balance on that.

On publication of the Employment Permits Bill the Minister stated: "In relation to work permits the legislation will enable the Minister, every two years, to set the maximum number of employment permits to be issued both in total and by sector, to identify the skills and qualifications required for the grant of a permit, and to identify the categories of employment that may or may not be the subject of granting employment permits." That provision is correct and Fine Gael welcomes it. However, the Minister added that while the Bill allows for the creation of a green card type system, "the practice of the employer applying for the permit will continue".

The Minister may or may not be familiar with one of the world's biggest websites, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It defines "green card" as "an identity document issued by a country's authorities affording non-citizens of that country some of the rights its citizens enjoy, sometimes with the prospect of naturalisation". An example is the United States permanent resident card. Since the publication of the Bill, the Minister has referred to green cards in an effort to suggest his Department has come up with a comprehensive and compassionate answer to the problems faced by the migrant workers who are keeping this economy going. While Irish citizens have the right to quit a job and look for another, this Bill does not give immigrants the same freedom because it does not give the employee rights over his or her employment status. The new Bill makes it easier for migrant labour to move job but I do not know why the Minister did not go all the way and grant the green card to the employee and not the employer.

This year we have already witnessed flagrant breaches of existing laws designed to protect Irish and non-Irish workers. At Gama's luxury offices in Santry, north Dublin, ingenious schemes were cooked up to pay those unfortunate workers half nothing while they helped build the country. Some action may have been taken against the company but we await the outcome. Nobody has been punished for the disgraceful treatment of one lady who had to go to the Labour Court to get her thoroughly deserved €25,000 compensation from Irish Ferries, whose status as the pariah of Irish industrial relations solidifies every day.

The Minister of State comes to us with more legislation but tells us little of how it will be enforced. What extra resources will be made available to the labour inspectorate and other bodies that will enforce the legislation? How does the Department intend to communicate those new rights to migrant workers? How does the Minister intend to co-operate with foreign embassies to ensure that those rights are translated into meaningful improvements for migrant workers upon entry to this country?

Unfortunately, the Government does not have a good track record when it comes to cross-cutting initiatives. If it did, the Employment Permits Bill would have been announced as part of a package of measures promoted jointly by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Foreign Affairs. Needless to say, one arm of Government very often still does not know what the other is doing. It would be good if the Minister of State could at least answer the questions that I have put to him to assure us that the Bill is worth the paper on which it is written.

This debate comes against the backdrop of the Irish Ferries dispute and the latest sinister twist in the story, with management flatly refusing to recognise the legitimacy of the Labour Court or implement its decisions. Regarding the largely very good industrial relations machinery that we have, the court itself, the Labour Relations Commission, and the Employment Appeals Tribunal, I often wonder whether there might be some way of making their decisions legally enforceable. We would like to have a voluntary court, and it is supposedly there, but as we know, on occasion one or other party rejects its findings. Perhaps the Minister might examine that to see if some positive improvement might be made in that regard. Now that it seems clear that Irish Ferries are operating within the law in reflagging the MV Normandy as Bahamian, I urge the Minister to lead the way in convincing our European partners to change EU law in the area to protect all workers, whether Irish or eastern European, from exploitation.

I noted with interest the Minister of State's comments on the Employment Agency Act 1971, which is currently being reviewed, and the National Recruitment Federation. In some instances, they have been unfairly treated in comments. I am assured and accept that temporary workers are automatically covered for the following wherever they operate or are placed by them: unfair dismissals; redundancy pay; holiday pay; rest breaks; health and safety; discrimination; the minimum wage; and force majeure leave. I accept their bona fides in that regard. Bar one or two cowboys, perhaps, who were not affiliated to them, they are doing a good job. I totally accept the Minister of State's comments in that regard.

I welcome the chance to say these few words but urge the Government to act as well as talk. The country and its workers deserve nothing less.