Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 161: To ask the Taoiseach if the national wage agreement has any legal or other status to the extent that it applies to private sector employers and employees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4452/10]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The national wage agreements which have been negotiated centrally between employers and trade unions under the framework of social partnership have been voluntary agreements, in line with Ireland's voluntarist tradition of industrial relations.

Accordingly, such agreements do not have a legally binding status – there is no legal obligation on individual employers and trade unions to implement their provisions. However, there would be an expectation that the constituent members of employer and trade union organisations would adhere to the relevant provisions. It is also the practice for the parties to brief the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court on the terms of their agreements to facilitate in the resolution of disputes regarding the application of the terms.

The position regarding the private sector pay provisions of the most recent national wage agreement, the Towards 2016 – Review and Transitional Agreement 2008-2009, is that, in November 2008, the Construction Industry Federation did not ratify the Agreement. Subsequently, IBEC sought to agree a suspension of the pay terms, having regard to the significant deterioration in the economy since the Agreement was reached. IBEC and ICTU held a series of informal discussions on the pay provisions of the Agreement late last year. Those discussions did not yield an agreed outcome, as a consequence of which, in December 2009, IBEC announced its decision to withdraw from participation in the pay terms of the Towards 2016 - Review and Transitional Agreement. However, IBEC has indicated that further discussions would be sought with ICTU on measures for the orderly conduct of industrial relations in the private sector.