Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. It is fair to say that I am disappointed. I will put what is happening here on the record of the House for the people watching at home. It is a cause of extreme regret to many of us across the Opposition that the Green Party is rejecting a proposal to define "just transition" in this Bill. That is the bottom line. That is what we are witnessing here today.

I will respond to a couple of the points that were made. We proposed a change to the Title of the Bill but we backed it up with substantial changes, such as this definition, so it was in no way tokenistic. Changing words without backing them up in this way is, frankly, just tokenism. I was very struck by what Senator Pauline O'Reilly said on Committee Stage. She said that nobody had come forward with a perfect definition. Does that sound to the Minister like someone who actually wants a definition to be achieved? I remind the Senator of the words of the great philosopher, Neil Young. I believe they were heard at Live Aid in 1985, which only the Minister and I are likely to remember. He sang "nothing is perfect in God's perfect plan".We had an opportunity this morning to reach agreement on a definition of "just transition". We were all able to come to an agreement very easily, pretty much the next day, after the previous debate. I echo what Senator Garvey correctly stated, which is that we all need to work together. Yet, for the second time today, we see the Minister and the Government rejecting the best efforts we have made to strengthen this Bill further. To be clear, we are supporting this Bill. We believe in this Bill and want to make it stronger and better.

As a trade unionist, it is particularly disappointing because, and I referenced this last week, the Minister does not seem willing to listen to what trade unions are saying. They want a definition of "just transition" in the Bill. I have to regretfully disagree with Senator Pauline O'Reilly's statement that we are all here to protect workers' rights because the fact of the matter is - and Senator Higgins is quite correct in this regard - that the Government has written to the EU Commission to ask that the EU minimum wage directive is not made binding. That directive is specifically about strengthening the right to collective bargaining. As many Senators know, we do not have a right to collective bargaining in this country. Please, let us hear no more nonsense from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or the Green Party about how they are protecting workers' rights when the Tánaiste has written to the EU Commission to lobby against collective bargaining rights in this country. That is a fact. We have a copy of the letter. There is no argument about this matter because that is where the Government stands on it.

As already stated, I am a trade unionist. I must point out that - unfortunately, this has been a constant failing - the Minister is not listening. I am delighted to hear the update on the midlands. There is some encouraging news in that regard, which is great. We are talking about the Bill, however, and, unfortunately, the reality is that the Minister is rejecting a definition of "just transition" that ties in very well, and aligns us without restricting us, to the International Labour Organization. Why can the Minister not accept that? Again, I note that he is not giving a reason why. We have had a lack of reasons. It is, basically, that the Minister is not prepared to work with us. That is the most disappointing aspect of all.