Richard Boyd Barrett on music college redundancies and outsourcing

Minister, last week in the Dáil I raised the plight of workers, teachers in the British and Irish Modern Music College who provide degree courses for the TUD in commercial modern music. At that point, 53 of them were threatened with redundancy, being told that they would have to reapply for their own jobs and facing big cuts in their paying conditions. Their union and their strike action have now established some sort of deal which will be ballasted on but it does raise serious questions about how workers in higher education could be treated in this way. Thank you. I would like to thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this important matter. As the Deputy would be aware, Ireland has a comprehensive body of employment, equality and industrial relations legislation. Ireland's system of industrial relations is essentially voluntary in nature. It has been the consistent policy of successive Irish governments to support the industrial relations and institutional framework. Indeed, the programme for government we commit to supporting the central role of the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court in industrial relations and employment rights. I would also encourage parties to make every effort to reach a resolution by agreement between themselves and with the help of the industrial relations machinery of the State if necessary. I note from media reports yesterday, as Deputy Boyd Barrett has outlined, that there have been constructive discussions between the parties and that there may be a resolution in sight, which is welcomed by all. All employers are responsible for ensuring that their employees receive all the protections afforded to them under the employment legislation. The Protection of Employment Act 1977 protects and supports workers in redundancy situations. The legislation imposes certain legal obligations on employers proposing collective redundancies, including the requirement for a 30-day consultation period with employees and their representatives. Employers must notify me as Minister and Minister Burke for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment for the proposal at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect. Employers may not issue notices of redundancy during this period. On 14 February 2025, our Department received a collective redundancy notification in accordance with the legislation for the company that the Deputy has referred to. Employers have the right to refer complaints to the WRC on a wide range of employment law breaches for adjudication and addresses, including the right to refer complaints and shouldn't require consults, and I think this was done in this case. Okay, well that's very interesting, Minister. I wasn't aware you were notified. And because of the strike action, three days of strike action, and the representations of IFOO at the workers' union, it looks as if BIM have made concessions, which hopefully are satisfactory to the workers. But the context of this was 53 workers being told they were going to be made redundant, not because their jobs were gone, but they were going to have to reapply for their own jobs, on lesser paying conditions, and the creation of a new freelance grade to replace jobs where there was, if you like, a more formal arrangement. Now, I'm glad to say the workers have won, but they shouldn't have had to go out and strike for three days, and it looks as if all the compulsory redundancies are off the table now, they are going to have a system of career progression, they're going to get some pay increases, so that's through their own efforts. But under no circumstances should workers anywhere, and particularly where they're employed under the office of the TUD, be made redundant and then asked to reapply for their own jobs. Thank you, Dave. Thank you, Deputy. And again, as I said earlier, in my earlier contribution, Ireland has a robust suite of employment right legislation to protect and support workers in redundancy situations. And certainly, in the first instance, the responsibility for the resolution of industrial disputes between employers and workers rests in the first instance with the employer, and as you said, the workers and their representatives. The Programme for Government does support the critical role of the WRC if it gets to the situation and the Labour Court in industrial relations and employment rights. Indeed, as you said earlier, we all welcome the fact that the employees and the company referred to has suspended their industrial action. And I think that is very, very important, and that their constructive discussions have led to a possible resolution and follow-up balloting by its members. And certainly, we will continue within our department to ensure workers' rights are strengthened, that we have robust legislation in place, and that we continue to support workers. Very much. Thank you, office. Let's be clear. Their strike action, the actions of their union, and the fact that it was raised in here, all put pressure on BIM to come to the table. They previously had refused to go to the WRC. But I think there is an issue, particularly where they were working under the auspices of the TUD. Essentially, TUD had outsourced this degree to a private company. That TUD, and that contract will be up for renewal in a couple of years. And I would ask the government to talk to their colleagues in other government departments, in this case, higher education, and say it should be a condition of the tenders that are given out, that those tenders would guarantee decent paying conditions and not be allowing outsourcing to create a yellow-pack grade of conditions and pay for people working in higher education. Otherwise, you'll get a race to the bottom and you'll get a repeat of this kind of thing. So proactive action by the government to prevent this happening in the future would be very, very useful. Thank you, Mr Magg, and Taran, to conclude. Thank you, Deputy Ian. I'm not familiar with the detail in relation to this specific case, but what I would say is that Ireland's system of industrial relations is essentially voluntary in nature and that it has been a consistent policy of consecutive governments to support the development of the institutional framework within the WRC and the Labour Court. And in this instance, we did receive the notice around collective redundancies in advance by this company, which did comply with the Protection of Employment Act in terms of supporting certain legal obligations. However, the consultation process has raised serious concerns in relation to what was being offered to the employees. And they do have the right to complain and seek representation. And this has happened in this case. And the machinery of the state is through the WRC and the Labour Court for any resolution. Thank you.