Gerald Nash (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Last week, Members of this House united to support a Bill from my colleague Senator Bacik which seeks to restore collective bargaining rights for people who have been denied them since 2004. These are vulnerable workers in our economy who are left to the vagaries of the free market to make ends meet. We showed our better selves last week in terms of our being able to combine our intellectual resources and political resources in this House to try to make the lives of working people better. We did that and I understand a degree of consensus has emerged around the legislation we are discussing this evening. I am grateful for the support of Fine Gael Senators, some Sinn Féin Senators, Independent Senators and Fianna Fáil Senators. I think they all understand that there are alternatives to the situation in which we find ourselves. Is it too much to ask that people should have a degree of predictability and security in the workplace in this day and age? I do not believe that it is.