Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and, in particular, to argue in favour of Sinn Féin's amended motion. Our amended motion reflects the experience of workers under the last Government. I recall the workers in Lagan Brick, Vita Cortex, TalkTalk, La Senza, Clerys, Dunnes Stores and many more companies who were denied basic rights and had to engage in sit-in protests. Ireland had the dubious distinction of having the second highest number of low-paid workers in the OECD. On top of this, we must add the decimation of key public services such as health, the provision of social housing and public transport.

In the Ireland of 2016, people go to work and live in emergency accommodation. Workers cannot afford to go to the doctor and their children languish on waiting lists for services that are available on demand in other European countries. We agree that there is economic growth taking place and we are thankful unemployment is falling. We are deeply concerned that this growth in economic activity and in employment is fundamentally imbalanced. The major cities of Dublin and Cork are moving forward while many other communities across this State, no more so than my own county of Donegal, are being left behind and are yet to see consistent growth or an adequate recovery in jobs. This type of recovery is symptomatic of the failed policies of the past that delivered totally imbalanced growth and allowed very bad decisions to be made. We all know the consequences of those policies.

We in Sinn Féin certainly believe a growing economy should sustain decently paid jobs. We also believe that all citizens should share in economic prosperity and that it must translate into better working conditions and improved pay. Trade unions are needed more now than at any point in recent times in order to restore the damage that has been done to workers over the past eight years. What has happened to workers in Ireland is not unique and the same has happened to workers in the United States and other European countries. We are seeing the rise of neoliberal economics, with bible touting privatisation, deregulation and driving down workers' pay and conditions. It is about attacking public services and undermining public confidence in our ability to grow public services. It is a shared right-wing ideology held not just in this country as we have seen from tonight's contributions but, unfortunately, across Europe and into America. Those of us on the left have a duty to coalesce. We will not reach agreement tonight but perhaps the point made by Senator Higgins could be taken on board. Perhaps in future we could co-operate better on these motions and try to reach some degree of consensus in order to demonstrate to the people following these matters at home - or the many more who are understandably disillusioned with debates in these Houses - that there is a better alternative to what they have seen and which has destroyed so many people's lives.

We welcome the acknowledgement by the Labour Party that the subvention to Dublin Bus, as with other public bodies, is not comparable with other European cities. We call on the Government to ensure funding for vital public services to prevent disputes occurring in the first place. Restoration of funding to rebuild the current services and add more must come about and a roadmap should be developed that can bring us to that point. There is a need to strengthen workers' rights. Our party has brought forward many Bills over recent years that sought to protect and enhance workers' rights but they were rejected by the previous Government, of which the Labour Party was a part. We have an ongoing position whereby many trade union officials are being denied the right to access places of work to engage with their members. This is happening in many retail outlets throughout the State. The issue of right to access was not dealt with by the previous Government. We have prepared legislation on this matter and hope to bring it before the Dáil in the near future.

As we speak, negotiations are ongoing to settle the Dublin Bus dispute. I wish the unions and Dublin Bus workers well in their negotiations and regret that management allowed it to get to this point in the first place. I would also like to put on record that the behaviour of the Minister, Deputy Ross, in this dispute has been far from helpful. Sinn Féin will vote against the Labour Party motion and I ask Senators to support our amended motion. Although we cannot reach agreement tonight, I hope we will be able to do so in both Houses in the lifetime of this Dáil and Seanad, allowing us to put together a shared vision from the left.