John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him again. He and his Department have facilitated a co-operative and positive approach by individual companies and their employees in meeting the objectives of the directive. This has resulted in a Bill which recognises the voluntarist tradition in Irish industrial relations which will assist companies and their employees in establishing effective and efficient information and consultation arrangements.

The Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005 is without doubt a welcome addition to our employment rights and industrial relations legislation and represents an important opportunity to foster and deepen a customised partnership style approach to anticipating and managing change. The Bill affords an opportunity to meet the challenge of embedding partnership at enterprise level and making it a reality for workers and employers. I commend the Bill to the House.