Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 72: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on introducing legislation to give trade unions the power to appoint representatives to boards of directors of companies with at least 25 employees as exists in some other states. [11231/06]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Worker Participation (State Enterprises) Act 1977 makes statutory provision for employee representation at board level in certain State owned companies. The purpose of the Act is to provide for the representation of workers at board level in certain enterprises listed in the Act, by means of the election of employees from among the workforce for appointment to the boards. Candidates for election have to be nominated by a trade union or another body that is recognised for collective bargaining purposes within the company.

There have been a number of developments in employee involvement since the worker participation legislation was enacted. The section of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 dealing with collective redundancies and the transfer of undertakings regulations require employers to inform and consult workers and their representatives about forthcoming collective redundancies and transfers of undertakings.

The Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Act 1996 provides for provision of information and consultation of employees by means of works councils on transnational issues in Community-scale undertakings and groups of undertakings. The information and consultation directive, which complements the 1996 Act, is being transposed into Irish law by the Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005. The directive establishes a framework for informing and consulting employees and their representatives in undertakings about ongoing developments across a range of business, employment and restructuring issues.

The Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill, which completed Report and Final Stages in the Dáil on 22 March last, will have a significant impact on the level and scope of mandatory interaction in the workplace. In light of the significant statutory developments in respect of employee involvement I have outlined, I have no plans to introduce legislation along the lines suggested by the Deputy.