Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Today marks the day when the employment regulation order, ERO, for early years education and childcare workers comes into effect. This is a huge victory and progress for the thousands of workers who give so much of themselves day-in, day-out to looking after and educating young children in this country. I want to say a huge congratulations to the SIPTU Big Start campaign and to all who worked tirelessly over the years, including Darragh O’Connor, Eilish Balfe, Deborah Reynolds and the thousands of others who have gone out to campaign to achieve this ERO. It is a vindication of what can be achieved when people join a trade union because united we bargain, divided we beg. This ERO sets down decent pay rates, progression towards bettering pay rates into the future and a recognition of the professionalisation of the sector. I wanted to mark that. That is a good news story.

What should also be a good news story is the employment regulation order for the security sector. This morning, the Minister of State, Deputy English, was before the House addressing a Commencement matter. On 3 August, the Minister of State committed to signing the employment regulation order for the security sector into law by the end of the month. On 24 August three employers who were representing a tiny number of workers across the 16,000-strong security industry lodged an ex parteinjunction to prevent the Minister of State from signing that hard-won pay deal into law. Security workers have not had a pay deal in three years. They have had tortuous negotiations and that ex parteinjunction stands. The Government has done nothing to lift thatex parteinjunction. It sat on its hands. There is a real question mark now - and I say this to all Members in the House - over when we pass by security workers, whether in the shop, or whatever place we are walking into, and we look them in the eye. This Government is preventing them from getting their collectively bargained wage agreement, which is 40 cent in phase 1, 45 cent and an allowance for unsociable hours in phase 2, and 40 cent in phase 3. These are very modest pay increases, yet the workers are being prevented from getting that wage agreement.It is up to the court to decide now how we should all proceed but it is up to the State to fight that injunction. In the three weeks since that injunction was initiated in the courts, the Government has sat on its hands. A date of 15 November is being put out for the judicial review challenging the constitutionality of the security employment regulation order. That is in for mention on that date, not for hearing. It will be well into next year by the time those wage rates will be decided for those security workers. These are low-wage workers. In January 2023 there will be a 35 cent difference between what a highly-trained, professionally licensed security worker earns and those on the national minimum wage. That is outrageous and it is outrageous that this Government has done nothing since the ex parteinjunction was lodged on 24 August.