Rose Conway-Walsh demands whistleblower protections and living wage
Rose Conway-Walsh called for stronger protections for whistleblowers and criticised the minister for pausing pledged worker measures. She urged swift progress on a living wage, paid sick leave, improved employment-permit remuneration, pension auto-enrolment and EU minimum wage implementation.
Whistleblower protections
She opened by acknowledging the service of whistleblowers and referred to the Grace case discussed earlier. She said many who come forward suffer personal cost and called for extra protection, praising a bill by Mairead Farrell and Pat Bugley that sought to set a gold standard for whistleblower rights.
Local jobs and employer engagement
On International Workers Day she highlighted concern for workers at Intel, Cairlan and a company in Limerick, urging the minister to engage with the Limerick employer. She warned of devastating impacts on workers, their families and the wider Limerick area if those jobs are lost.
Criticism of paused worker policies
She criticised the minister for reneging on commitments since coming into office, saying measures such as the living wage, paid sick leave entitlements, increased minimum annual remuneration for employment permits and pension auto-enrolment have been put on the back burner. She rejected claims that global trading uncertainty justifies the pause, calling it a potential ideological rollback and warning of a "race to the bottom dressed up as fiscal prudency."
Trade union engagement and EU directive
She recalled meetings with ICTU and participation in a TASC-hosted panel with her colleague Jonny Gurk, which focused on the EU adequate minimum wage directive. She stressed the directive's importance for promoting collective bargaining and implored the minister to implement the directive and publish an action plan quickly.
Good Jobs Bill and union recognition
She drew attention to the Good Jobs Bill introduced by the economy minister in the Northern Executive, noting it aims to introduce automatic trade union recognition in workplaces with 10 or more employees. She urged the minister to consider the bill's approach to strengthening union recognition in workplaces.
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Minister, today is a day to celebrate workers of the world and I suppose the day that is being in it, there are two things I want to speak about initially. The first one is around the treatment of whistleblowers. We are on a day when we discussed the absolute horrors of the Grace case here earlier on. Firstly, I want to acknowledge all of the whistleblowers and the service that they have done to this country and I want to call for extra protection for whistleblowers because so many people I know who have come forward with goings on that they have really concerned about have then suffered a personal cost for bringing those things forward. That is just a fact and it is happening today and it is happening many days. I know the bill brought forward by my own colleagues, by Mairead Farrell and Pat Bugley some time ago, sought to set a gold standard for whistleblowers and I really think that we need to look at how we treat whistleblowers or how we do not protect whistleblowers in this country. I am also mindful today on workers day of the workers in Intel that we spoke about earlier but also the workers in Cairlan and Limerick and I am deeply concerned about what is happening there and I would ask you again that you would engage with that company in Limerick. Not just because of the devastating impact we will have on the workers themselves and their families but also on the wider Limerick area. So on International Workers Day we take the opportunity to acknowledge the contribution that workers make to the economy and to society. But since coming into office there are so many things that you are reneging on Minister, I am really concerned that you are on the wrong pathway here like introducing the living wage of the paid sick leave entitlements, the increasing the minimum annual remuneration for employment permits and the pension auto enrolment. Again we spoke about that in depth earlier and I really would say that all of these which you signed up to have now been put on the back burner and that that is not acceptable. Certainly not acceptable to me, it is not acceptable to Sinn Féin and it is not acceptable to unions and workers. I want to know when they will be progressed and the Government will say that global trading uncertainty means we have to pause these measures. I absolutely do not agree that you would say that it has been sensible and responsible. I think it is the height of a responsibility. We have to wonder if those rollbacks are not ideological driven. Denying a worker an adequate living wage will hardly solve the global economic turmoil. What is happening before our eyes is a race to the bottom dressed up as fiscal prudency. Low paid workers today are faced with the cost of living crisis and falling living standards. Workers have never worked so hard and never struggled so much. The Government's housing policies have resulted in ordinary workers and families being priced out of the market. The number of minimum wage jobs advertised last year doubled from 2023. What hope does a young couple have working on the minimum wage to ever, ever, ever own their own home? These are people who get up early every morning, sometimes seven mornings a week. People who strive to make lives better for themselves and their families. The Irish trade unions have consistently been champions of the working class. I met with ICTU on a number of occasions and along with ICTU and other representatives I participated in a panel discussion hosted by TASC, the think tank for action and social change, earlier this week with my colleague Jonny Gurk. The conference focused on the EU's adequate minimum wage directive, a critical directive for the Irish trade union movement which is all about the state taking on an active role in the promotion of collective bargaining. Minister, I would really ask you to ensure, and I am going to follow this within the committees as well, but to ensure that that directive is implemented here and the action plan is done as quickly as possible. I absolutely implore you to continue working on that action plan for the implementation of that directive. It is one of the most significant pieces in terms of union recognition. It is one of the most significant pieces of legislation that have come before us. Minister, I also just finally want to draw your attention to the Good Jobs Bill which has been introduced by Economy Minister and the Northern Executive, Kiva Archibald, and that bill aims to introduce automatic trade union recognition in workplaces with 10 or more employees. Minister, please, Gar-Margat.
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