Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 95: To ask the Minister for Enterprise; Trade and Innovation his plans to publish anti-victimisation legislation, designed to protect workers who choose to join a trade union and which was promised by March 2009 under the review of Towards 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36392/10]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 97: To ask the Minister for Enterprise; Trade and Innovation his plans to publish legislation to address employee representation at work which was promised by June 2009 under the review of Towards 2016 [36368/10]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 97 together.

The Towards 2016 Review and Transitional Agreement 2008 – 2009 (paras 9.1 – 9.3) provides for the establishment of a review process to consider the legal and other steps necessary to enable the employee representation mechanisms that had been established under previous agreements – and in legislation – to operate as they had been intended. The Agreement (para 9.4) also commits the Government to bringing forward legislative proposals to prohibit the victimisation of trade union members and to prohibit the incentivisation of persons not to be members of a trade union.

In furtherance to these commitments, two informal meetings took place late last year, chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach and at which my Department; the Department of Finance; trade unions; and employers were represented. Position papers were prepared by the employer and trade union representatives on the issues which they saw as requiring to be addressed by any new legislation in this area.

While consideration will continue within Government on proposals to address the issues involved, progress in bringing the work to a conclusion will have to take account of other priority legislative commitments to be delivered in the employment area, resource constraints within Departments, and the extent of agreement between the trade union and employer sides in this area.