John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

—welcomes the agreement of the Social Partners and the publication of Towards 2016;

—calls for the laying of the full agreement before the Oireachtas for debate and for approval or rejection by its members;

—regrets that ten years of national social and economic policy has been agreed behind closed doors without appropriate democratic scrutiny;

—calls for reform of the social partnership process so that agreements are preceded by the adoption by the Oireachtas of a motion outlining the key challenges;

—calls for the implementation of social partnership agreements to become transparent and to be discussed by the Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service to be accompanied by on-going engagement between this committee and the social partners;

—concerned at the lack of representation of consumer interests which offers little hope that rip-off Ireland will be tackled in the duration of the agreement; and

—calls for greater emphasis on issues like poverty and disadvantage, environmental protection and long-term economic planning that pose challenges into the future.

I thank the Taoiseach for his remarks and apologise for being rather late for the start. I hope that commuters' problems will feature large in the social partnership talks, since I had a few this evening on my way to the House. I apologise to the Leader for missing her opening remarks.

It is important that we table this amendment to the motion. There are several issues, problems and difficulties to resolve in the existing social partnership system, as the Taoiseach pointed out in his closing remarks. I welcome many of his final points, when he spoke of the possibility of debating specific issues regarding social partnership in the Seanad. That would be welcome, and the gist of the amendment proposed by the Opposition is certainly in that vein. I hope that the Government will be able to accept it.

I welcome the social partnership proposals and agree with the Taoiseach that the system has served the country well. It is now time to adapt and upgrade the existing process, which has contributed to our development and current status. However, it must be amended, updated and reinvigorated. We clearly require a rebirth of the spirit of the original social partnership agreements. The Taoiseach referred to what I believe is the common myth that social partnership is the only reason for our success. He did not quite put it in those stark terms, but he alluded to it. While it is an integral part, there have been many other reasons for our economic success in recent years. If we are to continue to have social partnership, we must review the system and process.

In his concluding remarks, the Taoiseach spoke of what I and many others would refer to as the obvious democratic deficit in the system. Many Members of the Oireachtas continuously raise the issue, including some from the Government side. We need more involvement by the Oireachtas in the social partnership process. One part of our amendment seeks that the Government come before both Houses with the challenges and issues that it wishes to bring to social partnership discussions before the process begins. That will not happen if this partnership agreement is accepted, but it should happen in future. Members of the Oireachtas should have an opportunity to have some input before the Government gets involved in discussions on behalf of the social partners.

While I welcome the opportunity to have this debate, in one sense it might be a little premature, since the agreement has not yet been signed. We heard a warning shot over the weekend from the TUI, whose executive recommended rejection to its members. I suspect that other groups participating in social partnership will do the same. In that sense, we may be somewhat premature.

That is certainly the case with the agricultural part, which has not yet been concluded. Before I travelled here today, I attended the launch of the Teagasc Options 2006 event in Kildalton Agricultural College in Kilkenny, at which the Minister for Agriculture and Food spoke of her vision for the industry. However, although we need such a vision, she did not express what it was. In that area, the Government lacks a concept. We are somewhat premature and should have a full discussion on social partnership when all the partners have agreed to the proposals as laid out. It is unfortunate and may show the Government's regard for agriculture, which is still a very important part of the economy. We should have that discussion when the relevant section has been agreed by all parties concerned.

I agreed with one point that the Taoiseach made very well, which is also contained in our amendment, namely, when he spoke of the need for various Oireachtas committees to engage with the partnership process. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service and my party's spokesperson on the area in this House. There is a real role for that committee to be involved in scrutinising the various stages in the process, and I would welcome that in future.

The Taoiseach also touched briefly on several clear gaps in the system as it currently exists. A substantial and ever-growing number of people work in the private sector but are not in a union. They are not represented directly at the talks, which is a difficulty. I do not know how it can be resolved or overcome, but it is a problem, since those people do not feel part of the process. They are detached from it, and it might allay fears and objections on this side of the House regarding the democratic deficit if those people could be engaged in a more meaningful way.

There is also a desperate need to have a consumer representative involved in social partnership. It is a glaring omission as things stand, and if they are talking about evolving and developing the system, consideration must be given to consumers, something not the case at present.

It is not satisfactory that this agreement, Towards 2016, which commits the State for another ten years, has essentially been concluded behind closed doors. As Members of the Oireachtas, we must be more actively involved in the process before it reaches the stage of acceptance or rejection by the partners. Two areas have been neglected. Efforts have been made in the last few agreements, but environmental protection, which seems not to have been treated as it should, is still an area that lags behind. I know that the Government will be talking about an energy policy over the next few weeks. It is a crucial area, and perhaps we should have placed more emphasis on the environment in the discussions.

There have been obvious failings regarding previous agreements in which the Government committed itself to action on social and affordable housing. The situation has deteriorated throughout much of the country, not least in this city. The Government has singularly failed in past commitments in that regard to help those in need of social and affordable housing. I hope that its broken promise will be reversed in any agreement.