Paul Bradford (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, and give a general welcome to his proposed legislation and apologise for having my telephone switched on. While I concede I have not read this legislation in great detail, I listened to the Minister of State's contribution and certainly was both impressed and content with its tone. In one sense, the necessity to have such detailed legislation indicates we have a long way to go in respect of relations in the workplace but we certainly are moving in the right direction. The economic situation that has faced this country over the past five or six years and which now is being resolved slowly but surely, provided an environment in the workplace where jobs were so scarce and so difficult to come by and where people in employment were so happy to be there, that some of the previous industrial relations difficulties experienced in the 1980s and 1990s perhaps were deferred - I will not say they disappeared.

However, as the commencement of economic recovery can now be discerned, as can debates on wage increases across the public and private sectors, some issues that previously caused difficulty may come to the fore again and therefore, a good industrial relations mechanism would be helpful in that regard. At the core of any good working environment must be the concept of respect, namely, respect from employer to employee and vice versa. One will never have good employment without good employers and good employees and that is what we must aim towards because all the laws on the Statute Book can never ensure harmony and goodwill, which can only be provided within the workplace environment itself. It is evident that some employers are very good in that respect while others still have much to learn. However, we must aspire towards a solid working - if Members excuse the pun - relationship on the work floor because one cannot have good employment without good employers and one cannot have a good business without good employees. Consequently, everyone must work in harmony to make progress.

The summary outlined in the explanatory memorandum provides Members with a clear picture of the aim of the Bill, namely, to create a modern, user-friendly, world-class employment workplace relations system providing significant benefits for its users and society as a whole. Who could oppose that concept? Issues will arise and I note the Minister of State already has referred to issues he intends to address by way of further amendment. I look forward to this because I do not believe any legislation is ever perfect. When drafted, no item of legislation ever appears to get the full picture initially but during the course of the debate, issues emerge and sometimes are dealt with. It will be interesting if the Minister of State can take on board in the Seanad some issues raised in the Dáil and which may be raised here on Second Stage. I believe the Minister of State's openness to amendments and his being in a position to present amendments will be helpful to the overall debate.

As for the new body replacing some older agencies, streamlining in general is deemed to be effective. Over the past decade, we have gone through a phase of politics and economics in which it was believed that streamlining inevitably was good. While generally it was, there have been instances in which streamlined agencies have not produced the goods expected of them. However, it certainly is to be hoped that the Workplace Relations Bill will be helpful in that regard. On reading the list of bodies to be amalgamated, I note it includes the Labour Relations Commission. If my recollection is correct, it has been a highly successful agency, the personnel of which have been dominant and I refer to one person in particular. I believe it was set up in the late 1980s during the time of the first Programme for National Recovery. It was perceived as a major step forward in that regard and it has engaged in all sorts of dispute resolution, not merely on the factory floor or in the workplace but on matters as diverse as the Cork county board's dispute with the players, as well as the famous concert in Croke Park last year.

It is funny; an agency is set up and sometimes it engages in all sorts of extraneous affairs.

I wish the Minister of State well with this legislation. If it provides harmony, goodwill and a fair resolution process as early as possible in a dispute, or a possible dispute, it will be making significant progress, and I look forward to that. These are my initial and, I must concede, inadequate comments. However, the legislation will be useful. In a modern economy and a modern workplace, we must continually review our legislation on workers' and employers' rights. The legislation is one necessary step in that regard.