Employment Rights
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Paul Murphy (PBP), Dublin South-West

This is very simple. We need extreme weather legislation to protect workers. We do not have it now and the result is workers' lives and health are put at risk. One worker responded to the Unite survey about how their employer acted during Storm Éowyn stating:
The company were more interested in production than employees' safety. Because there is no clear legislation around extreme weather events, it is left to employers' discretion to do what they want. Unfortunately, employers only concern is profit so they will choose to ignore weather warnings if it suits their agenda.
This is going to be an issue more and more. It is an issue now and will be an issue tomorrow. Tragically, it was an issue for Matthew Campbell, an electrician who was killed in 2018 while working in a forest during Storm Ali. His dad Mark told us at a press event last week that his son would be alive today if legislation like Unite is seeking had been in place then in the North. I hope no more workers have to die on this island before we have workers' rights legislation to protect people from extreme weather events to ensure their employers cannot put their lives at risk in order to maximise their own profits.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05