Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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18. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps his Department is taking to strengthen the right to collective bargaining in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21700/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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It has been the consistent policy of successive Irish Governments to promote collective bargaining through the development of an institutional framework supportive of a voluntary system of industrial relations that is premised upon freedom of contract and freedom of association.

There is an extensive range of statutory provisions designed to back up the voluntary bargaining process. The right to freedom of association and the right to organise and bargain collectively are also guaranteed in a number of international instruments which the State has ratified and which it is, therefore, bound to uphold under international law.

Article 4 of the EU Adequate Minimum Wage Directive, Promotion of Collective Bargaining on Wage Setting , aims to promote collective bargaining on wages in all Member States. The Directive requires Member States in which the collective bargaining coverage rate is less than 80%, as in Ireland, to provide “for a framework of enabling conditions for collective bargaining” and to publish an Action Plan to promote collective bargaining by the end of 2025.

The Programme for Government contains the commitment to finalise the action plan and I am committed to working towards this with the social partners.

A technical working group has been established with Department officials and the social partners, to consider the content of Ireland’s Action Plan. The working group is meeting regularly.

On 14^th April 2025, my Department launched a public consultation process to obtain the views of interested stakeholders across the wider enterprise and employment sectors on the possible content of the Action Plan. The outcome of the consultation process will help guide my Department in finalising the proposals, both legislative and administrative, which may be considered for inclusion. The closing date for submissions is the 12^th of May and it is publicly available on my Department’s website.

An update on Collective Bargaining and Ireland’s Action Plan was provided to the social partners at the LEEF meeting chaired by the Taoiseach on 4^th April 2025, and is on the agenda for my meeting with the social partners at the LEEF Subgroup on Enterprise and Employment to be held before the summer recess.