Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I am taken aback slightly by the reasons set out for rejecting the amendments. Amendment No. 48 tabled by Senators White, Quinn and Coghlan seeks to insert a requirement that employees "be informed and consulted through their representatives (as defined under this Act)". I am happy to support this amendment because it achieves my objective. I am not trying to exclude anything from happening. We are only talking about the purposes of the Act here. We are only talking about what is happening around the terms "consultation" and "information", which are required under the Act. I am happy to go along with what is being suggested in another part of the Bill by Senator Quinn, to use the representatives who are being selected under section 1.

While I am not asking the Minister of State to anticipate his views on amendment No. 48, am I to take from this that he will be supportive of that amendment or that Senator Quinn and Senator White will be taking an opposite view on that amendment? One can see why they are two separate issues and why we did not want to discuss them altogether, but this is certainly an instance of being betwixt and between. We need to know where we stand. How is it that the representatives are useful at one point but a danger at another? It seems to me they are useful on both occasions.