The Minister of State is looking at a lifelong trade union activist.

My father was a full time trade union organiser and led a very strong union in this State. My grandmother was a shop steward with the Irish Women Worker's Union and my grandfather was a shop steward with the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, ITGWU. The Irish trade union movement raised me. I came in here and one of the very firm agendas I have is to further workers' rights and to strengthen their rights.

At every turn, we are met by Fine Gael which stops us. It is never the right time to legislate to facilitate trade union recognition. It is never the right time to legislate for people to have a right to their tips or for a decent increase for people on the minimum wage. When the Minister of State talks about balance, is he referring to €2,000 for Deputies and ten cent for low paid workers? Is that his idea of balance? That is not balance. We live in a very imbalanced society and we can see that clearly. One of the…

I am looking at a list that was sent by our Whip's office. It states that the order goes from the sponsor to the Government, to the sponsor, and then to Sinn Féin, with Deputy Kerrane leading for us. That is the list and I think that is where the confusion is coming from. That came from our Whip's office.

That is what we were sent.

I thank Deputies for tabling this motion. I read in a newspaper this morning, as I am sure the Minister did, that some of her colleagues are anxious to get rid of the image of Fine Gael as being the nasty party and she has the opportunity to do so here. The cut to the PUP, coming as it did at a time when advisers were being appointed to Government and some Deputies - although not me or my colleagues in Sinn Féin and others - were accepting a pay increase, was appalling. I do not know if the Government is just tone …

Brexit poses a huge threat to the economic future of the people of this island, with the land Border resulting in the North being forced out of the Single Market, with barriers to trade, potential devastation of agriculture, not to mention the potential implications for the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. This is one area in which I am sure there is unanimity across this House and among sensible people throughout this island. The only way to prepare for what is coming down the road with Brexit is a pro…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and provide for related matters. I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce this Bill. The purpose of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Amendment) Bill 2020 is to protect workers in their workplaces. The Bill makes a straightforward amendment to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act to make workplace outbreaks of Covid-19 notifiable to the Health and Safety Authority, HSA. The pr…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I thank my colleague, an Teachta Mac Lochlainn, for bringing forward this motion. I join him in highlighting that it should not be necessary. Putting forward a motion on this issue was the last thing we wanted to have to do. The fishing representative organisations understood that a lot of the heavy lifting had been done in this regard and that the argument was won. However, we have seen a complete about-turn on it from Fianna Fáil in government. Nobody will be surprised by that. Indeed, the fishing communities tha…

I thank the Deputies for introducing this legislation, but I cannot let this go without remarking on how the former Minister, Deputy Howlin, stated that sick pay was a moral imperative even before Covid. He was bang on. It was a moral imperative when he cut the entitlement of public servants, including our nurses, to sick pay in half. I campaigned against that cut.

For my entire working life, I have campaigned for workers' rights. I will continue to do so. There is no need for Deputy Howlin to interrupt me. He has made his point. He made his point while-----

-----he was a Minister, when he cut in half the sick leave entitlements of public servants. I was a trade union official at the time and I well recall it. In fact, we managed to stave off the worst of what the Deputy was trying to do, but what public servants were left with was a sick pay scheme that was effectively half of what it was before he entered government. However, his road to Damascus-type enlightenment is welcome and I thank the Labour Party for introducing the Bill and giving us this opportunity. It is …

No.

Ms Patricia King of ICTU and Mr. Gerry Light of Mandate have been left with no option but to walk away from the Low Pay Commission. As the Taoiseach has said, the commission is not an arm of the Government. The representatives know that. They have walked away because they could not achieve at the table the minimum increase they required, of 2%. That was not a target; it was their floor. They could not even achieve that. My question is simple: does the Taoiseach propose to legislate for a meaningful increase in the …

They are on the minimum wage that has been set by the Government and they want to know whether the Taoiseach, as Head of Government, intends to legislate for a meaningful increase. He does not need to wait for a report from the Low Pay Commission; he can actually do it now.

With the greatest of respect, this is about people on low pay.

This is about low earners.

This is not about people who come in here; it is about low earners. Is the Taoiseach going to say to them "I'm all right lads"?

This is about workers on low pay.