This week is trade union week. It was a pleasure to attend an informative session in the audiovisual room by Owen Reidy of ICTU and Neil McGowan of SIPTU. They set out their vision for a new economic model that puts quality jobs at the centre of all development. Sinn Féin’s good jobs Bill is currently before the Northern Assembly, which will hopefully be enacted before the next Assembly elections in May 2027. Not only will this put it on the record and stop the scourge of zero-hour contracts but it will also provide much stronger protections for collective bargaining in the workplace. The absence of similar legislation here shows us that we need to update our employment legislation. The Labour Party has put forward four different pieces of employment legislation so far between the Dáil and the Seanad that have not been supported. We are supportive of Sinn Féin’s Private Members’ motion that is being discussed today in the Dáil.

The cost-of-living crisis is having an impact on the daily lives of ordinary PAYE workers. Inflation is having a negative effect on the living standards of all workers, particularly on those earning the least. This can be felt. People’s wages are not going up, even for those who might have got a pay rise, because there is no indexation with inflation. We seek a mini-budget to address this that includes a double indexation of tax bands and credits. We see this being paid through the withdrawal of the VAT cut to hospitality giants and multinational corporations.

Employers often peddle the line that trade unions are no longer relevant, but a new research study has shown the opposite is true. The Working in Ireland Survey 2025 found that 44% of workers in Ireland are not in a union, while 52% of young workers have said that they want to be part of a union. However, Ireland continues to lag farther behind. It is frustrating that during trade union week and in the run-up to May Day on Friday that Ireland lags behind every other country in Europe when it comes to our collective bargaining rights.