I know the Tánaiste has referred to this in a previous answer but I ask him when the right to flexible working Bill will be published; the legal protections that are currently in place to support workers who are asked to return to the workplace but who would prefer to remain working remotely; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Within the legislation, is it envisaged there will be a right for workers to switch off? If a person is working remotely, there can be a sense of soft pressure for him or her to remain constantly on, with emails and communications from the employer. I can appreciate this may very well suit the lifestyle of somebody in settled domestic circumstances, with a spare room, an office or whatever, but for a younger worker who may not have that facility, can we within the legislation ensure there will be a responsibility o…

I appreciate that the legislation is still being drafted and the Tánaiste is still welcoming submissions but I would impress on him the importance of the younger, more vulnerable worker. As I said, there may be soft pressure on younger workers to work from home. If people are 20, 21 or 22 years of age and starting off in the workforce, they would not necessarily have that type of space, if they still live in the family home, to allow them to be as productive as they might like to be, and they might not have the sel…

I would like to ask the Tánaiste if time spent on the pandemic unemployment payment will count towards redundancy entitlements, if he plans to bring forward legislation on this matter, if the suspension of redundancy rights will be lifted at the end of September 2021 and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I welcome the Tánaiste’s response. It is clear that this is something that is on his agenda. He is engaging with the Minister for Social Protection on it. He is due to make a statement on the matter in a number of weeks' time. That is welcome. I note that ICTU has encouraged the Government to reform employment law in order to deal with this issue. The Tánaiste can appreciate that if you were in receipt of the PUP, you were, by Government mandate, taken out of the workplace. We in the Labour Party appreciate that th…

I appreciate the Tánaiste’s remarks and that the Government is coming from the right place on this. We look forward to seeing the proposals from Government and, hopefully, to being in a position to support the Tánaiste's efforts in this regard.

The issue here, if we get beyond the sloganeering, is very real. In my community in Marino, there has been a discovery this week about a development on Griffith Avenue. When it was being proposed, there was a lot of internal debate in the community about its size and scale, which was making people uneasy. There was also a lot of sentiment in the local area that development was needed to house our people. We discovered this week that 343 of these units are being sold to a vulture fund. Young people are facing an ave…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as a bheith anseo chun éisteacht linn mar gheall ar an mBille seo. This is good legislation which the Labour Party is happy to support. We need to change the conversation around education in its totality. With that in mind, it is beyond time for us to discuss the establishment of a citizens' assembly on education. Seeing as we hope that we are now coming out of this pandemic and given that many fault lines have been exposed by that pandemic and that many power struggles in the area of …

I want to make a general point. I cannot accept what the Minister of State has just said in regard to the amendment, namely, regardless of how justifiable it is or how it will enhance the Bill, he is just not going to accept it because he does not have the time. We have concerns about this legislation contradicting European directives, yet his stock answer to all the amendments is that he does not have the time. We were given a deadline for amendments to this legislation as being the day before the Second Stage deb…

I accept that the Minister of State's function is to try to pass a Bill he believes will do a lot of good for many companies. I accept that is the reason he is here and why he feels so strongly about the legislation. We have no problem with that. I do not think we in the Opposition have a difficulty with that. He said we need to get this done. That phrase is generally that we need to get it done and that we need to get it done right. We believe this is not compliant with EU Directive 2019/1023. While we need to pro…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 16, line 39, after “proceedings” where it secondly occurs to insert the following: “, other than proceedings taken by or on behalf of an employee to the Workplace Relations Commission or the Labour Court,”. The Minister of State will see what we are trying to do in the section on relevant courts powers to stay proceedings or restrain further proceedings is to ensure that those proceedings are not those taken by or on behalf of employees to the Workplace Relations Commission or the La…

I noticed the word "typical". The Minister of State's reply indicates this situation is not typical but that does not mean this provision will not necessarily be needed. We want it to be explicit within this legislation that workers will still have the opportunity to take these proceedings as they see fit.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 31, line 2, after “be” to insert “other than the employees,”. This is a very straightforward amendment which aims to include in the Bill the amended wording: Where a company is a creditor, any person who is duly authorised under the seal of that company to act generally on behalf of that company at meetings of members and creditors may fill in and sign the instrument of proxy on that company’s behalf and appoint himself or herself to be other than the employees, that company’s proxy.…

I was going to say that I will revisit the matter and bring forward an amendment on Report Stage but I will not be in a position to do that. I will revisit it.

I move amendment No. 8: In page 31, lines 17 and 18, to delete “60 per cent in number representing a majority in value” and substitute “66 and two-thirds per cent in number representing 66 and two-thirds in value”. This amendment is very simple. It aims to increase what is considered to be a majority in the Bill from 60% to 66%. This is two thirds and represents the normal practice.

It is good to be back in this House. I think it is the first time since December. Hopefully we can resume regular business here soon. The Labour Party is happy to support the Workplace Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021. This Bill has been brought before us without pre-legislative scrutiny as a matter of urgency. Unlike some other Bills which have been rushed through, this Bill is indeed urgent and is suitably concise and limited to be progressed rapidly. It is extremely important that we get this Bill …

cThis is a Bill whose aims we in the Labour Party consider reasonable. The objective is to try to put in place a SCARP to reduce the number of companies that go into liquidation and instead to give them access to an affordable rescue plan, an alternative and lower cost version of examinership. In the context of Covid, there is pressure on hundreds if not thousands of companies in affected industries that are struggling to survive. We must ensure that perfectly viable companies that are hamstrung by Covid-related de…

I want to ask the Minister the status of the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019; her plans to proceed with the Bill; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

I thank the Minister. She will agree with me that it is important that we put children and young people at the centre of the education discussion and for far too long that has not been the case. It has been remarked to me on a number of occasions that what the Department tends to understand better than anything else are teachers and buildings but that when it comes to young people and children, they are too often not at the heart of our education discussions. I want to pay tribute to the Minister on the leaving cer…

I appreciate the Minister's comments. We share the ambition of putting the child and the student at the heart of the education discussion. Schools have broken up for the summer. Yesterday would have been the last day for many primary schoolchildren. They are moving on to the next stage of their education and some of them are moving into second level. Can I ask the Minister about the commitment she gave a month ago on a catch-up fund? I was appreciative of the Minister's comments that Senator Bacik and I have been c…