Speech by Mr. Frank Fahey, Minister for Labour Affairs

At the 2003 IBOA Biennial Delegate Conference and Dinner

In the Corrib Great Southern Hotel, Galway on Friday 25^th April 2003

I am very pleased to have been invited here today to speak at the IBOA's 2003 Biennial Delegate Conference. If I might, I would like to talk to you about the specific issues that will flow from the new social partnership agreement, "Sustaining Progress" and developments at EU level against the background of the wider issues of economic development and the development of industrial relations in Ireland.

In the late 1980's, this country was facing economic uncertainty. Our national debt was high and increasing at an unsustainable rate, our unemployment rate was high and continuing to increase, our taxes were high and inflation was high. Confidence in the economy was low, investment was low and economic growth was slow.

Since then, we have achieved a dramatic turnaround in our fortunes. We achieved this by creating a system of social partnership that is unique in Europe and which would be unthinkable in America. This process brought together government, business and employees and enabled a consensus to develop as to how our fiscal, economic and social problems should be tackled and, by now, it has been integrated, to a large extent, into the fabric of our system of government.

Business has benefited from a stable trading environment and wage moderation. Workers have benefited from increased employment and lower taxation resulting in real increases in take-home pay. Things are very different compared to the late 1980's and while the Government continues to, and always will, focus significant resources on job creation, our focus has widened significantly in our attention to job retention and industrial relations requirements.

This new Agreement represents, as did all of its predecessors, an evolution in social partnership. Our system of social partnership must remain dynamic rather than being rigid and inflexible. It must be capable of continually reflecting developments in the broader environment.

Ireland succeeded in creating new jobs at a record rate and now there is a need to ensure that the high level of employment we have achieved is sustained, and that the industrial relations mechanisms, which are essential to the smooth running of the economy, are maintained and developed. What we have to keep working towards is a business environment that respects the employee, while maintaining national competitiveness.

This is the aim of the Sustaining Progress social partnership agreement and, although not universally acclaimed, now that the Agreement has been ratified by the social partners, it is through adherence to the terms of this agreement that, I believe, Ireland will continue to create jobs and wealth for all its citizens.

The new Agreement is for a period of three years, although the pay terms will be renegotiated after 18 months. This arrangement was determined by the current world environment, which, it was felt, was too volatile to allow an accurate prediction of pay requirements more than 18 months into the future.

The Agreement comprises two parts - the first sets out the overall scope of the Agreement and identifies ten main initiatives, which the Social Partners agree should be undertaken during the period of the Agreement. A Steering Group representative of the Social Partners will agree how action is managed in respect of each of the themes, taking account of existing structures and activities.

The second part of the Agreement relates to pay and the workplace. In addition to the recommended pay increases, this chapter contains commitments on Work/Life Balance Programmes, Statutory Redundancy Payments, National Minimum Wage, Employee Representation and an Anti-Inflation initiative.

Now that Sustaining Progress has been ratified, there are several developments in the pipeline to give effect to initiatives agreed during the partnership negotiations.

I am, of course, aware that representational rights for workers is an important issue for the trade union movement, not least in the context of national economic and social partnership. One of the developments resulting from Sustaining Progress will be the strengthening of the procedures put in place in the Code of Practice on Voluntary Dispute Resolution and the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001.

The new measures will be given effect through new legislation, an amended Code of Practice on Voluntary Dispute Resolution and a new Code of Practice on Victimisation. I intend to publish a Bill to give effect to the new legislation before the end of June. The revised Code, which is currently being drafted by the Labour Relations Commission, will contain timescales for the processing of cases under the Code. The overall timescale envisaged for the processing of cases under the Code and the Labour Court stage is 26 weeks, with provision for up to a maximum of 34 weeks where necessary. Previously, there were no limits on the time required to process a case in either the Code or the Labour Court stage.

A new Code of Practice on Victimisation will also be introduced which will set out different types of practice which would constitute victimisation arising from an employee's membership or activity on behalf of a trade union, or a manager discharging his managerial functions, or other employees. It is intended the legislation will give the Labour Court a new power to provide for redress when making a determination in cases of alleged victimisation.

Other developments in the industrial relations area, arising from the partnership process, include a commitment to increase the National Minimum Wage and amendment of the Redundancy Payments Acts to significantly enhance statutory redundancy terms.

Of the many recent developments in employment rights, the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 is an important piece of legislation, which assists in the development of balancing work/home life. We have some 300,000 part-time employees in Ireland - with about 75% of these being women.

The Act came into effect in December 2001, and prevents part-time workers from being treated less favourably than full-time workers. The Act provides for the removal of discrimination against part-time workers and aims to improve the quality of part-time work. The Act is also intended to facilitate the development of part-time work on a voluntary basis and to contribute to the flexible organisation of working time in a manner that takes into account the needs of both employees and employers.

On Friday 11th April 2003, new Regulations aimed at safeguarding employees' rights in the event of a transfer of a business or part of a business, from one employer to another, were signed into law. The new regulations - The European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 - revoke and replace existing regulations in this area.

The new Regulations provide that the rights and obligations of the original employer arising from an employment contract existing at the date of transfer, other than pension rights, are, in the event of a transfer of a business or part of a business, transferred to the new employer. While pension rights do not currently transfer they are generally protected under Pensions legislation.

The new Regulations also introduce a wider complaints mechanism - in the first instance to a Rights Commissioner and, on appeal, to the Employment Appeals Tribunal - if an employer contravenes any provision of the Regulations.

One further important piece of legislation on the horizon namely - the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003 - transposes into Irish law, the Fixed Term Work Directive which was originally negotiated between the Social Partners at European level in 1999. Consultations with ICTU, IBEC and relevant Government Departments on the transposition of the Directive into national law were completed in 2002. Draft Heads of a Bill are currently being finalised by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government. Proposals will be brought to Cabinet in the next few weeks seeking approval to publish the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003 and to have it enacted by the Summer Recess.

The trade unions, through the partnership process, have played a responsible and constructive part in the reshaping of the Irish economy. They have played a dynamic role in paving the way for national prosperity, in modernising our economy, in accommodating change and in creating a new climate for industrial relations. I hope that this willingness to work within the social partnership framework will continue through the next series of negotiations on pay increases and that the eventual success of Sustaining Progress will result in a 7^th Agreement in 2006 that will continue to benefit employees and employers and society as a whole.