Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I take an element of the Senator's criticism as fair but I have to reject some of it because this has to be got right. We have tasked the relevant people in the WRC, and people who are trusted both within the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and IBEC and who have experience to make sure that code of conduct is done correctly. I am not just going to put a set date on it because if we set a deadline, we are just setting a target to be missed. I want this to be got right. We all agree about what the end destination needs to be but it has to be underpinned by legislation and a code of conduct that can stand the test of time and meet any sorts of challenges. Absolutely, yes, I will be pushing for this to be done as quickly as possible but I want to make sure it is done right.

As I said, I will take the Senator's very well articulated and fair concerns on board and bring them back. When I next meet with the WRC, however, I will of course be asking how the last two weeks went and how many more weeks we have got in the future and we will make sure we get this delivered as quickly as possible.