Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur wholeheartedly with Senators Hayden and Bacik. I welcome this legislation which will restore the equilibrium of rights to all workers irrespective of where they are employed or to whom they are contracted. Society is changing, the economic output of society is changing, the role of the employee is changing, economic actors within society are changing and diversification is the reality in terms of the type of employment which is created within many sectors It is vital that workers' rights across the whole spectrum are fully protected.

This Private Members' legislation, brought forward by the Labour Party, will be supported by Fianna Fáil. Current competition law prevents actors who provide voice-overs for advertisements, musicians and freelance journalists from negotiating pay collectively, and this issue has been raised through the trade union movement, members of the media and the arts fraternity. It is right that this legislation will address that. The Bill will enable these people and others the right to collective bargaining and negotiation of their pay and conditions. The Bill will ensure such individuals will not be classed as undertakings for the purposes of competition law. Self-employed individuals will continue to be prohibited from price fixing, which is in the best interests of consumers. The ruling of the European Court of Justice was referred to and that was a groundbreaking ruling brought about as a result of Dutch unions bringing a case before the court. The court hearing of December 2014 set the bedrock for bringing forward legislation such as this, not only in Ireland but right across Europe.

This will affect many people in society such as all the people I mentioned - actors, people doing voice-overs for radio and others such as freelance journalists, photographers, those providing written copy, sound and visual contributions, photographs and film clips to media outlets, writers for radio, television and film drama, musicians hired for gigs or recording sessions, orchestras, bands, dancers for shows in clubs and other performers, models on photoshoots, bricklayers and many other skilled tradesmen in the construction industry, as well as doctors and many other professionals. This is wide-ranging and is not definitive to one sector in particular. It brings equality to many people within the dynamic workforce we have in Ireland at the moment. It brings forward employee rights and we fully support it.

The timeframe is short between now and when the Taoiseach calls the general election but I hope this legislation can be adopted before then. We will facilitate it in every way possible and, in the year that is in it, it would be good to recognise the role of many individuals employed in different sectors of society by the nation cherishing them all equally under legislation. I commend Senator Bacik and Hayden on bringing forward this legislation which I hope will see the light of day before the general election is called.