1094. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to provide the latest figures available to him on collective bargaining coverage, by public and private sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59327/26]

Collective bargaining coverage in Ireland is estimated at approximately 33-34% of employees drawing on figures informed by survey-based evidence and research sources, including the Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (WIIS) and the OECD/AIAS ICTWSS Database, together with analysis by Eurofound and other national and international sources. As these sources use different methodologies and Ireland does not have a single comprehensive administrative measure of collective bargaining coverage, the estimate should be regarded as indicative rather than definitive.

Coverage is considered to be concentrated in the public sector, where national public service agreements result in near-universal coverage, while collective bargaining in the private sector occurs primarily at enterprise level and covers a significantly smaller proportion of workers.

The Government recognises that the data available on collective bargaining coverage in Ireland is limited and that there are challenges in accurately measuring coverage across sectors. In this regard, Ireland's Action Plan to Promote Collective Bargaining 2026-2030 commits to targeted research, improved monitoring and ongoing engagement with the social partners to strengthen the evidence base on collective bargaining coverage. The Action Plan includes measures to close existing data gaps and to develop a better understanding of the economic and social impacts of collective bargaining, thereby supporting more robust assessment and monitoring of coverage levels over time.