Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Speaking on behalf of the civil engagement group, I commend Senator Bacik on bringing forward this very positive legislation which I would like to see move swiftly through the House and swiftly into action. I also commend Senator Nash who has pushed forward a suite of measures in respect of this legislation. It is good to see support from all sides of the House.

Looking back over a century, we see that many in the arts were first involved in the workers movement - for example, Helena Molony, was a founder of the Irish Women Workers' Union and an actress on the stage of the Abbey. There has been a deeply entwined connection between democracy, the organisation of workers, union workers and the arts, which is fundamental to the State. This is a chance to again restore that connection. I would argue that the Bill is not just important and crucial for freelancers and artists but it is important for society and has a strong social benefit to it.

The 14 year old Competition Authority ruling has led to a very negative consequence not only in terms of the specific situation of all of those freelancers who can no longer be represented by their unions and who have not been able to be represented adequately and appropriately in their negotiations with employers but it also damages the narrative in Ireland in terms of quality. It creates a perverse incentivisation towards casualisation. In recent years, we have seen a growth in aggressive casualisation. We know that women, in particular, are vulnerable in terms of ending up in bogus self-employment. When we have a measure such as the ruling from the Competition Authority, which makes it harder for people to negotiate as freelancers, it creates a perverse incentive for companies to encourage people to be freelance and to press people into registering themselves as self-employed when, in many cases and in many areas, they may not be. The importance of trade union representation in rebalancing the power of negotiation has long since been recognised. This is an opportunity to restore the power imbalance and ensure there is adequate representation and balancing in that area.

When we talk about incentivising casualisation, which we have had in recent years, we are also talking about a race to the bottom in terms of cost. With collective bargaining, we have individual professionals in areas that are so crucial to our identity, such as writing, the arts and the creative industries, we are looking to a pressing upwards whereby cost is no longer the defining issue but rather quality is. We are giving people the power to press forward on quality conditions, on decent terms and on the kind of security that allows people to be original, creative and transformative. If we want Ireland to step on to the international stage in areas such as the media and film and to win Oscars, we need to ensure we are pressing for an equality agenda within all of those industries. The world is now global. These are global areas of work. Ireland should be a beacon for quality. I am delighted to support the Bill in all its aspects and look forward to the debate.