The cost-of-living crisis is putting massive pressure on workers and their families. Everything they buy and use, including their rent, fuel, food and meals continues to increase leaving workers unable to make ends meet. The dream that is sold to young people, that if they stay in school, do well, go to college or get an apprenticeship, they will get a job that will meet their needs, is becoming a nightmare. A lot of our young people are voting with their feet and leaving this country. Did the Minister of State know that the overall employment figures mask that one quarter of jobs in Ireland are considered poor quality, characterised by low pay, insecurity and poor working conditions? The findings of the 2026 Ireland Thinks poll, commissioned by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, found that 52% of workers do not believe they are paid fairly for the work they do and that figure is higher for women and for people on low incomes. According to the Working in Ireland Survey, 44% of workers in Ireland not currently in a union would like to join one. Ireland, as the best little place in Europe to do business, is an outlier in the European Union in not providing workers with a statutory right to collective bargaining and lags behind other EU member states. I have worked in several places where being part of the union was required. As you went into the employment, you were told you were joining a union. It was really good. We had very strong unions and very strong negotiations with the management and it was a brilliant place to work, but that is a rare thing and is getting rarer. The Minister of State needs to provide a legal right to collective bargaining through a union and provide unions with legal access to a workplace. Imagine, we are asking for legal access to a workplace for representatives. The Government also needs to bring the minimum wage into line with the living wage and increase access to flexible and remote working arrangements for employees. It is about workers' rights. It is about giving people who are on low pay the opportunity that everybody else has - a right to collective bargaining and a right to be in employment that pays well.

Sentiment score: 0.15