Gerald Nash (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Norris, particularly for his remarks on MEAT. We have heard a lot about MEAT but what Senator Higgins is trying to achieve here is the addition of the two vegetables, which is a balanced diet and a balanced approach to public procurement because quality needs to be put at the heart of public procurement policy.

The Labour Party is pleased to support this Bill. It is a modest proposal and if taken on by Government and if it passes through the various stages here, and subsequently in the Dáil, it could deliver a paradigm shift in tendering and procurement processes. There is an onus on us in this Legislature to ensure that the State operates best practice and leads from the front in the power, influence and leverage that the State has in terms of it and us being the largest procurer of services, products and so on. We have significant power and leverage that we do not often use in promoting best practice in labour standards, environmental standards and achieving quality design standards and aesthetics in public buildings, for example. Some of the public buildings that have been constructed in the State in recent years and recent decades - and I acknowledge that design is a subjective matter - leave a lot to be desired. It should be ensured in our public procurement processes and in tendering and design standards that quality and aesthetics are at the very heart of them because the development of public buildings and public projects should be an expression of who we are and demonstrate who we are and what we want to be as a State. At the heart of this Bill is an ambition to achieve those kinds of aims.

State procurement should always aim to have a high standard of labour practices at the heart of everything we do. At least in theory there is an obligation on those who successfully obtain public contracts to ensure that high labour standards are maintained and that labour and employment standards are maintained, respected and complied with but that is not always the case. For example, in 2017, following an investigation that I established, it was found that a number of cleaning contractors which were used by the HSE were not paying the employment regulation order rate. In one case it was in a hospital in the southern part of Ireland, not too far from Senator Kieran O'Donnell's base. All the HSE did was to insist that the rate be paid to staff but the contractors got away with breaching and being non-compliant with an employment regulation order with absolute impunity. Anyone in breach of employment and labour standards and in breach of our laws, whether they be tax laws, employment laws or whatever the case might be, should immediately lose the contract. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

I was interested in Senator Horkan's remarks on disputes that arise between subcontractors and main contractors in construction. They are damaging disputes and many subcontractors went under in recent years because of the behaviour of large contractors. Back in 2016, I appointed a panel of adjudicators under the Construction Contracts Act 2013, which emanated from this House under the guidance of former Senator, Feargal Quinn. That legislation was nuanced and finessed by me and the then Minister, Deputy Howlin. That panel of adjudicators is in place now and I understand it is working well. It is an important protection for subcontractors who are employing many thousands of people in dealing with the vagaries of that industry because the reality was that in some cases a lot of subcontractors would have to go to the superior courts to get satisfaction and to get money that was owed to them returned to them. Now we have this clear process in place that is very effective, from a cost point of view as well, to vindicate the rights of subcontractors.