Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is my pleasure to welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, to the House and I wish him continued success with his portfolio, as he has enjoyed to date. Fianna Fáil welcomes the Government's decision to reform the State's existing employment rights and industrial relations structures, a process that was commenced by Deputy Calleary in the previous Administration. Ireland has a stellar reputation in the area of workplace relations internationally and one reason we remain as a highly-favoured location for foreign direct investment is because the number of industrial disputes in Ireland, when compared with our competitors, is notably lower. However, we must remain vigilant in the face of increasing competition internationally. We must ensure that our employees and employers are provided with the proper workplace mechanisms to ensure that disputes, which inevitably will arise, will be addressed in an effective unbiased manner.

Fianna Fáil believes this Bill will be a first step in guaranteeing the structures needed for the coming years. My party will support the objective of a world-class workplace relations service, which is simple to use, independent, effective, impartial, cost-effective and which provides for a workable means of redress and enforcement within a reasonable period. A cost-effective system, which delivers for employer and employee alike, would result in significant benefits for the Irish economy overall. The system that has developed over the past 60 years may have become unwieldy, complex, inconsistent, slow and, in some cases, expensive for users. Fianna Fáil supports a streamlining of these structures to deliver a better service to those who find themselves obliged to rely on the mechanisms of the State to broker a compromise. The fact that the services of the Equality Tribunal, the National Employment Rights Authority, the Labour Relations Commission and, in the first instance, functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal, are to come together under the remit of the proposed workplace relations commission, WRC, is a sensible move, as is the movement of the functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal, to be amalgamated into a reconfigured Labour Court. However, Members on this side of the House seek clarification on how the officers of the respective bodies are to be integrated and the Minister of State may outline this in his response.

This Bill will not be judged a success or a failure on whether the structures look well on paper or even on how much money the streamlining of services will save. The Bill will be judged as a success only if it provides the citizens and companies of Ireland with a more effective and cost-effective service in finding resolutions to disputes, in vindicating the rights of workers and employers and in securing Ireland as a great place in which to invest and to do business in the future. Employees in Ireland are entitled to receive certain basic employment rights and those rights often need to be guarded. Fianna Fáil hopes this Bill will make those rights easier to guard than heretofore.