Labour Court
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-06
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Pat Buckley (SF), Cork East

I thank the Minister of State for her response. She stated, "When disputes arise and engagement at workplace level breaks down, the State provides well-established institutions to support resolution." I understand that the Labour Court recommendations are generally non-binding. She also stated, "Nevertheless, such recommendations are intended to be treated with seriousness by both parties." I understand that she cannot comment on the case, but I want to follow up on what she said about the recommendations being treated with seriousness by both parties.
In 2018, when Cork City Council had a health and safety motion before it, I engaged with the Health and Safety Authority, HSA. It took a lot of work and it was difficult, but the families involved are relatively happy with the HSA. I have brought this up many times; it is frustrating. We have to wait for Europe to change the law on protected disclosures before we can change anything. In fairness, it was done by mutual consent in this Parliament. An office was set up. I met with the HSA prior to these accidents. It is not being taken seriously. I ask the Minister of State to put herself in my position. I have gone through three taoisigh in the context of protected disclosures. I have tried to raise the matter. I spent 18 months working on protected disclosure legislation in order to strengthen it for whistleblowers. I discovered that there have been constant breaches of health and safety standards, accidents and leakages in the meantime. I could write a book on the subject.
How does the Minister of State think that makes me feel as a human being when I am sitting at home and hear that there has been a fatality? I feel that I have failed everybody in the factory who came to me. We are here again in 2026. I understand where the Minister of State is going, but I want to get on the record that the matter has not been sorted, that the union is not being recognised, that the company is ignoring everybody, that the family is being destroyed, that a person is dead and that nobody provides answers. All I am getting is that the matter is before the courts and that we cannot say anything. I am saying it now that this is not good enough. We have a separate protected disclosures office. It should have the power to investigate because that is what the protected disclosures legislation was for.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-06/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-06