Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Members of both Houses for their co-operation during the passage of the Bill and remind them that I am transposing it a year and three or four days later than the date on which this should have been done. One of the reasons for the delay was that we engaged in long negotiations. I particularly want to thank the officials in the Department for the hard work they did in the background, liaising with the various interest groups and preparing the material for the various Stages in both Houses.

I tried to approach the transposition with an open mind but it was clear at an early stage that there were somewhat unrealistic expectations and ill-founded fears, which created difficulty for the social partners who strongly made their cases on the Bill. It will, however, improve individual workplaces and bring the partnership model, which has been successful at national level, into the workplace in a way that has not been the case heretofore.

I said many times that it is only about information and consultation but some people thought it should cover wider topics. It is a positive development and fears that people may have had about the impact of the legislation will turn out to be unfounded. I thank Members for their co-operation.