Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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28. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the definition of an enterprise-level agreement under the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014. [44602/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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29. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the differences between the registered employment agreements mechanism prior to the 2013 Supreme Court judgment in the case of McGowan and others versus the Labour Court and the new mechanism for a revised framework for setting of pay and pension and sick pay entitlements of workers in a particular sector provided for in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014. [44603/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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30. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014 provides for sectoral registered employment agreements, as was provided for prior to the 2013 Supreme Court judgment. [44604/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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31. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the factors that will activate a decision of the Labour Court to initiate a review of the pay and pension and sick pay entitlements of workers in a particular sector under the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014. [44605/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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32. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014 provides for an appeal mechanism where the Labour Court does not deem it to be appropriate to make a recommendation to him following a review of the pay and pension and sick pay entitlements of workers in a particular sector. [44606/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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33. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the course or courses of action he may take under the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014 following receipt of a recommendation from the Labour Court on conclusion of its review of the pay and pension and sick pay entitlements of workers in a particular sector. [44607/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide the definition of a substantially representative trade union as provided for in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014. [44608/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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35. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the specific principles and policies the Labour Court will be obliged to have when considering a recommendation following a review of the pay and pension and sick pay entitlements of workers in a particular sector under the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014. [44609/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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36. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the reason it has been deemed necessary to provide for the registration of employment agreements to which there are just two parties, an individual employer and trade union in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014; and if these agreements which are not legally binding will undermine sectoral agreements as provided for in the legislation. [44610/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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37. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if enterprise-level or sectoral agreements as provided for in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014 will be enforced down the subcontracting chain, with particular reference to the construction sector. [44623/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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38. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation where employment agreements are registered by just two parties, an individual employer and trade union, under the provisions of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014, if the terms of the agreement will be enforced down the subcontracting chain or will the terms be applicable only to the principal contractor. [44624/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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39. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the provisions of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014 enterprise-level or sectoral agreements will be applicable to a company awarded a public procurement contract but where that company is registered outside of the State and workers of such a company are brought in from outside the State. [44625/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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40. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will set out in detail the specific principles and policies provided for in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014 that he plans for the Labour Court to take into account when considering a recommendation to him regarding a review of the pay and pension and sick pay entitlements of workers in a particular sector. [44626/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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41. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation with regard to sectoral orders, if orders will be informed by considerations such as specific principles and policies such as potential impact on competitiveness, employment and so on that the Labour Court will be obliged to take into account when considering whether to make and, if so, the recommendation they will make to him in relation to pay and pension/sick pay terms in a particular sector. [44627/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 to 41, inclusive, together.

As the Deputy is aware, my colleague Ged Nash TD, Minister for Business and Employment, presented the General Scheme of the proposed Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014 to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for pre-legislative scrutiny at its meeting on 11 October last; it is my understanding that the Deputy was present at the meeting. The General Scheme and discussion which took place at the meeting addressed in detail most of the issues raised in this series of questions put down by the Deputy.

The main purpose of the proposed Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2014 is twofold. Firstly, it will provide for the reintroduction of a mechanism for the registration of enterprise-level employment agreements. In this context an enterprise-level agreement means an agreement relating to the remuneration or the conditions of employment of workers of any class, type or group made between a trade union, or trade unions, of workers and an employer, or a trade union of employers that are binding only on the parties to the agreement.

Such agreements will not be legally binding beyond the subscribing parties, nor would it be constitutionally permissible to so legislate. Indeed, prior to the Supreme Court ruling in the McGowan case, enterprise-level Registered Employment Agreements were not given general application on a sector-wide basis.

Enterprise-level Registered Employment Agreements, which are in line with Ireland’s long-standing voluntarist industrial relations system, provide certainty for the employer and workers in terms of rates of pay and other terms and conditions over the period of the agreement. Furthermore, all such agreements will be required to contain a provision that, if a trade dispute occurs between workers and their employer, a strike or lock-out shall not take place until the dispute has been submitted for settlement by negotiation in the manner specified in the agreement, thereby contributing to industrial peace in the enterprise or enterprises.

As such agreements are not legally binding beyond the subscribing parties, the same constitutional issues regarding the delegation of legislative authority that arose in McGowan do not apply in these cases

Such REAs will set terms and conditions across a range of matters; as they cannot undercut sectoral Orders, they cannot undermine such Orders.

The Bill will separately provide for a new statutory framework for establishing minimum rates of remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment for a specified type, class or group of workers, particularly in the context of transnational provision of services and in the context of promoting harmonious relations between workers – in effect a framework to replace the former sectoral Registered Employment Agreements system, which included the Construction and Electrical Contracting Sector.

In this context, the new framework proposes a mechanism whereby, in future, at the request, separately or jointly from organisations substantially representative of employers and/or of workers, the Labour Court can initiate a review of the pay and pension and sick pay entitlements of workers in a particular sector and, if it deems it appropriate, make a recommendation to the Minister on the matter.

The Labour Court is identified as the appropriate expert body to make judgment calls in relation as to whether a review should be instigated in the first place and, where it is, to decide on what recommendation, if any, to make to the Minister. As the Labour Court is the delegated authority, the legislation does not provide for an appeal mechanism in this regard.

This mechanism is in contrast with the previous REA system struck down by the Supreme Court which, prior to the enactment of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012, provided for employment agreements made between trade unions and employer representatives being given general application by being registered by the Labour Court. The 2012 Act, which was not considered by the Supreme Court in McGowan, provided for a Statutory Order by the Minister confirming the registration of the agreement.

The new legislation will provide the Labour Court with specific principles and policies that it will be obliged to take into account when considering whether to make and, if so, what recommendation to make to the Minister in relation to pay and pension/sick pay terms in a particular sector. In this context, the proposed Bill provides that the Labour Court shall not undertake an examination unless it is satisfied that the request applies to all workers of a particular class, type or group and their employers in the identified sector and that the Court is satisfied that it is desirable or expedient to have separate terms and conditions relating to pay, or pension scheme and sick pay scheme for that class, type or group. In addition, the Court shall only undertake an examination where it is satisfied that the organisation or organisations making the request is/are substantially representative of the class, type or group of workers and employers in the sector to which the request is expressed to apply, and any recommendation is likely to promote harmonious relations between such workers and employers.

There is no specific definition of substantially representative in the proposed Bill, rather it will be a matter for the Labour Court to judge, based on the principles set out in the Bill. In this context, in satisfying itself with regard to whether the parties are substantially representative, the Court will take into consideration -

(i) the number of workers represented by the organisation representing the workers, and

(ii) the number of workers employed by the employers represented by the organisation representing employers, in the class, type or group of workers to which the request is expressed to apply.

The Court shall not make a recommendation to the Minister unless it is satisfied that

i. to do so would promote harmonious relations between workers and employers and assist in the avoidance of industrial unrest;

ii. the recommendation is reasonably necessary to promote and preserve high standards of training and qualifications in the sector; and

iii. the recommendation is reasonably necessary to ensure fair and sustainable rates of remuneration in the identified sector, in light of EU law on the transnational provision of services.

The Court shall, for the purpose of making a recommendation to the Minister, take into account/ have regard to the following matters:

(a) the potential impact of the recommendation on levels of employment and unemployment in the identified sector;

(b) the terms of any relevant national agreement relating to pay and conditions for the time being in existence;

(c) the potential impact of the recommendation on competitiveness in the identified sector;

(d) the general level of wages in sectors within which workers of the same, class type or group are employed.

If the Minister is satisfied that the process provided for in the new legislation has been complied with by the Labour Court, the Minister shall make the Order. Where the Minister is not satisfied that the provisions have been complied with, he or she shall:

i. refuse to make an order in accordance with the terms of the recommendation, and

ii. notify the Court in writing of his or her decision and the reasons for the decision.

The standard provisions dealing with the laying of orders before the Oireachtas are proposed.

Where such an order is made in relation to a class, type or group of workers it will be binding across the sector to which it relates and will be enforceable by the National Employment Rights Authority. The existence of such a legislative provision is recognised under European Union law and ensures, in accordance with the Posted Workers Directive, that contractors from outside the jurisdiction, who may be using employees from lower wage economies, do not obtain an advantage over local contractors in terms of wage costs.

Ireland’s robust suite of employment rights legislation, including any order made under this proposed legislation, applies to all workers, whether employed by a sub-contractor or other class of employer.

This sectoral mechanism proposed is constitutionally robust compared with the previous REA system struck down by the Supreme Court which, prior to the enactment of the IR (Amendment) Act 2012, provided for employment agreements made between trade unions and employer representatives being given general application by being registered by the Labour Court. As enterprise-level agreements never were and will not be legally binding beyond the subscribing parties, the same constitutional issues regarding the delegation of legislative authority that arose in McGowan do not apply in such cases.