Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With respect - Senator Conway is a man I respect - one cannot have it both ways. If we believe in the right of workers to be represented by trade unions, if we believe in the right to collective bargaining, we should not be welcoming the likes of Michael O'Leary in to give a little dance and a speech to raise a few bob for the Fine Gael Party. We often hear that all of us believe in trade union rights. Let us put our names to it and state clearly to Ryanair that this is completely unacceptable and the airline needs to work with the workers and needs to accept the right to collective bargaining.

It also highlights the issue that Ireland is one of the few countries in Europe that still does not have a statutory right to collective bargaining. I would ask the question, when will we fundamentally address that issue and is it one on which we can unite and work towards in this Chamber.