Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I advise the Minister of State not to rely disproportionately on the efficacy and utility of the JLC system, good and all as it is, for enabling Ireland to reach its obligations under the minimum wages directive, specifically Article 4. The system is important, and I am proud of the role I played in re-establishing its mechanisms, which are important for low-paid workers, but there are restrictions inherent in the joint labour committee system and the areas it is permitted to cover by law are limited.

If we are interested in ensuring that workers get a greater share of the wealth they produce, a maximalist approach to the transposition of this directive is important. To the best of my knowledge, the density of trade unions in this country is at an all-time low. The market economies that perform best are those that recognise and allow access to trade unions and put collective bargaining and trade union membership and activism at the heart of their economic models. I ask the Minister of State to promote this idea actively.

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