Seanad debates

Thursday, 29 May 2014

Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Bill 2013: Second Stage

 

1:30 pm

Photo of Trevor Ó ClochartaighTrevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim céad mile fáilte roimh an Aire. It would be remiss of me not to share the concerns of Senators on the job losses in Waterford. It is a very dark day for that city, for all those involved and for the families which will be affected by that decision. I believe my colleague, Senator Cullinane, was on his way there when he heard the news. He asked me to contribute to this debate in his stead. One of the issues which appears to have arisen there was that the unions were not consulted in advance of the decision being made, which is not a good way to conduct industrial relations. The unions and the staff should not hear rumours in the media, etc., about this type of thing.

When the technical nature of this Bill was being outlined, an important point was made that these proposals cannot be seen in isolation but as part of a broad range of policy development initiatives. There is no doubt the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has a significant job to do in terms of bringing forward legislation. My colleagues discussed some of this workload during the question and answer session with the Minister of State in regard to collective bargaining, workplace relations and the ongoing delays in that regard. While Sinn Féin does not oppose the Bill in principle, we look forward to examining its provision, some of which are very technical in nature, in more detail on Committee Stage.

The Bill proposes to dissolve Forfás and assign powers to agencies, such as Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish National Accreditation Board, to function as employers in their own right, including, for example, the capacity to establish superannuation schemes. As it stands, Forfás is the statutory employer. In this context, we welcome the commitment that the terms and conditions of employment will transfer over which is reassuring for personnel within the organisation. The question of the functions of Forfás is something Sinn Féin intends to examine in detail on Committee Stage.

The Minister of State referred previously to the importance of retaining the capacity for independent critical analysis, which the agency provided. Now that it is being subsumed into the Department and coming under the remit of the Minister, some non-policy functions will transfer to other agencies but, in the main, it will be amalgamated into the Department. It is very important that the independent character of its operations is maintained. We must avoid a situation where a group think mentality prevails. I am confident that the Minister will do everything from a personal and political point of view to ensure this does not happen.

The Bill provides for a strategic policy division within the Department to take over Forfás's role in providing independent research and analysis. Will this division have the power to set out its own research programme? Will all of the reports coming from the unit be made public or will they be for the Minister's eyes only, with publication taking place at his discretion? As the Minister knows from his time in opposition, in order for Opposition Deputies to fulfil their role in holding the Government to account, providing critical analysis of policy when such is required and acknowledging when good work is being done, it is important they have access to all the available information and the latest research findings. I seek an assurance that there will be no question of reports which are critical of Government policy being shelved by the Department. My concern in this regard is not specific to the current Government but applies irrespective of which parties are in government and whoever the Minister might be. After all, the Minister will have ultimate control over the strategic policy division. It is all well and good for the Minister to assure us that Forfás's function of providing independent critical analysis is safeguarded but that might not always be the case. We do not know who will be in the Minister's chair in five or ten years' time.

The opening sections of the Bill give powers to agencies such as Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to become employers in their own right, including the capacity to hire staff. These provisions will be subject to approval by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, which is reasonable. However, the Minister knows as well as I do the realities of the current economic situation. He indicated in his opening contribution that these proposals do not represent cost saving measure and I accept his word in that regard. He indicated that there would be savings in the long-term, which is welcome. However, reforms of this type should never be initiated merely on the basis of potential cost savings. With that proviso in mind, I accept the Minister's position that these proposals represent a policy decision to develop efforts in regard to job creation. We have seen leaked reports from Enterprise Ireland on the impact of reductions in staffing levels on its ability to carry out its functions. IDA Ireland had a good year in 2013, for which it should be commended. It did not, however, achieve all of its targets, including the undertaking to ensure 50% of investment would go outside the main urban areas of Cork and Dublin. Will the Minister confirm that the failure to meet the particular target was not down to a resourcing issue?

There is no point in legislation which gives organisations such as Enterprise Ireland, the capacity to become employers in their own right if the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is not prepared to loosen the purse strings to accommodate that. If additional recruitment is needed to allow organisations such as Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to work at the optimal level, then the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform must be open to it.

I presume that the Minister has been lobbying the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform on these issues. This Bill contains good proposals which we intend to support. We might bring forward amendments to it on Committee Stage. We look forward to examining some of its provisions in more detail, particularly in respect of the strategic policy division and how it will work in practice. It sounds good in theory but we need to go through the nuts and bolts of what is proposed to see how it will work in reality.

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