Mr. Barry White of The Sunday Business Post reported that the head of IBEC has been lobbying the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, for more employer involvement in appointments to the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. Apparently, the aim is to ensure that the changing nature of work is reflected in those bodies. Specifically, it would mean appointing advocates of the gig economy, banded hours contracts, atypical leave conditions and so on to those bodies. This is a significant concern for workers and trade unionists. Any attempt to change the composition of these important bodies is likely to worsen the conditions of workers. I am interested in the Government's view on this because the responsible Minister declined to provide any specific details on the lobbying. I ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to inform the House, in the context of legislation, what changes IBEC has been lobbying for to change the composition of these important workplace bodies.

I am not aware of any lobbying but I know that both employers and unions are intimately involved in the appointment of members to those bodies. That has always been the case and the fact that IBEC is interested in this area, no more than the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, is interested, is normal. I assure the Deputy, who has considerable experience in this area, that these bodies have a strong reputation for being fair and equitable to all who come before them. They would not have had the success that they have had over the years in dealing with difficult industrial relations issues if they had not approached their work in that way. I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation who is on a trade mission this week but IBEC's interest in the membership or operations of these bodies is not surprising.