Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 290: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps he will take to ensure that there will never be a repeat of the treatment that the workers in the Vita Cortex plant in Cork had to endure for nearly six months and that no workers in Ireland should ever be put through this situation again; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26940/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the fact that a mutually acceptable resolution was found to bring an end to the long running dispute at the Vita Cortex factory. I am conscious of the toll that the events have taken on the workers and their families since 16 December 2011 when 32 workers began the sit-in at the factory arising from a dispute with their former employer over extra-statutory redundancy payments.

The system of industrial relations in Ireland is essentially voluntarist in nature with the terms and conditions of employment of workers being determined in the main by a process of voluntary negotiation and agreement without the direct intervention of the State.

In general, Irish law does not try to impose a solution on parties to an industrial relations dispute, but rather is designed to help support the parties in resolving their differences. The State takes a supportive role, by providing a framework and institutions through which good industrial relations can prosper, rather than an interventionist one. Institutions such as the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission were established to assist in the resolution of disputes between employers and workers.

The experience and expertise of the State's industrial relations machinery offers the best avenue for resolving issues in dispute. It is expected that the parties to a dispute come to the process in good faith and consequently are prepared to give serious consideration to the decisions or recommendations made.

Even what often appears to be the most intractable of disputes is capable of resolution where both sides engage constructively and in good faith in this voluntary process. The principle of good faith implies that both sides in a dispute make every effort to reach an agreement and endeavor, through genuine and constructive negotiations, to resolve their differences.

Ultimately, responsibility for the settlement of a trade dispute rests with the parties involved, which was the case in the Vita Cortex dispute.