Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 32, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(4) An employment permit shall include contact details for the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Workplace Relations Commission.”.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This amendment, while technical, is straightforward. It does not change a lot in the grand scheme of things but it could have a huge impact on the people affected by it. The amendment seeks to facilitate the inclusion on employment permits of the contact details of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, and the WRC. These are places to which workers, particularly vulnerable and migrant workers and the kinds of workers we are specifically talking about this evening, can go to get assistance in vindicating their rights at work. We have all discussed the need to protect workers and this amendment is nothing less than a practical step that could be taken to facilitate those workers in vindicating their rights at work. It is, and remains, the best protection at work to be a member of a trade union. We would like that benefit extended to those who may not have grown up knowing about the Irish trade union movement or indeed, where to go. I hope the Minister of State can accept this amendment. In the Dáil it was said that this could be done by way of statutory instrument but I hope the Minister of Sate can accept this amendment today.