Ruth Coppinger
Dublin West · People Before Profit-Solidarity · Ireland
“Next Wednesday, the trial continues of the Ulm five, including the Irish citizen, Daniel Tatlow-Devally. A delegation of TDs and Senators, including me, will attend the trial in Stuttgart next week.”
“This man said of one woman that he would attach her to a concrete block. He said of another that he would set fire to her. Should this person be getting a pay off from the Army? No, of course, he should not. He should have been put on trial.”
“I have very little time left, but I want to put on record that the woman in question was abused by an Army officer using military equipment and surveillance technology, which is extremely scary. She made a complaint, which has never been pursued.”
“When is the victims of crime Act 2017 going to apply the Army? The Women of Honour have pushed for change so that if there is abuse within the Army there will, we hope, be mechanisms to deal with that, but what about women who are abused by Army personnel who are not in the Army?”
“This officer was involved in a GoFundMe campaign, where rapists' names were used as a joke by the various men who contributed to it. I do not think rape is funny and the Army should not either. That GoFundMe campaign was left up for a long time. Why is the Army a law unto itself in relation to gender-based violence?”
“The victim's belief is that the military prosecutor has evidence of a very dangerous man but for some reason, the Army does not seem to be concerned because it has not prosecuted him on those charges. Why would the Army not want to prosecute somebody? Are we at war or something? Why is it so secretive?”
The complete record
Every one of 1,205 lines we hold for Ruth Coppinger, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 20 of 25.
“Packs of dogs chasing after a fox relentlessly is obviously a very stressful and unnatural situation. Fox hunting has been banned for over two decades in Britain. I fail to understand why anyone would defend it here. The fox is a mammal native to Ireland and is part of Ireland's biodiversity. Fox hunting is of no benefit to anybody. Foxes are the last wild dog in Ireland and they should be protected. We need to put it up to TDs to stand up and do that. According to experts, foxes should live to the age of ten but many only live to age of two. We should be protecting foxes from hunting which is only one of the threats to them. Many arguments are put up about fox hunting and they are spurious. For example, it is said that we need to keep down the fox population. When fox hunting was banned in Britain, it had no impact on the fox population.”
“This is something that could be done. My Bill aims to amend the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, which has an exemption for hunting in section 12. It states that a person should not do anything to "cause or permit anything to be done to an animal that causes unnecessary suffering ... or endanger[s] the health or welfare of ... an animal" or is carried out recklessly. All those things obviously apply to fox hunting. We now need to add into this section that fox hunting is an illegal, unlawful activity. This is what this legislation aims to do. It also brings in trail hunting, snaring and the trapping of foxes because these have proved to be loopholes in the UK. I believe fox hunting is a cruel and inhumane so-called blood sport. It clearly causes unnecessary suffering.”
“Foxes are still dug out of the ground and tracked by trained terriers. Foxes are still chased by packs of dogs, sometimes for hours, and torn apart when caught. If a domestic animal were treated in this way, there would be an outcry. A Red C poll found that 77% of the population want fox hunting banned. By the way, this is not an urban versus rural issue, as some may try to claim, because 74% of people in rural areas also thought fox hunting should be banned. It is not a major activity undertaken by a lot of people in rural areas. Part of the rural opposition comes from farmers themselves who have hunts going over their lands without permission, causing them problems and, according to one person, causing them €6,000 in damage. Country pursuits that could replace fox hunting would include drag hunting, for example.”
“I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 to ban the hunting of a fox or foxes; and to provide for related matters. I understand we have an unprecedented situation where a Deputy will be opposing this Bill, but I will come back to it later. With fox hunting banned in England, Scotland and Wales, Ireland has become an outlier. In fact, it is ironic that the colonial powers that introduced fox hunting into this country have banned it and yet it is still retained here as a relic. In 1998, a code of conduct was introduced for fox hunting packs, approved by the Minister. It has become a farcical situation. It eliminated none of the cruelty that makes fox hunting one of Ireland's most inhumane activities.”
“I will finish on leaving certificate reform. As an English teacher, I know it is wrong to make the leaving certificate 40% non-exam and allow students use AI. I know people can use AI but facilitating that is absolutely unbelievable. It will lower the standards in education completely. The Minister needs to listen to teachers on this. She needs to engage and not just set her face against that. Most of academia around the world is grappling with AI and trying to find ways to deal with it. We are in the very early stages. The Government seems to be saying, "Ah, sure look. We're done with that. Leave them off." However, many colleges and universities are coming back to exams rather than facilitating non-exam assessment because of AI.”
“The Minister should look to Australia and the UK where they are taking massive measures to recruit teachers and to keep them. I know of Irish students who have gone to do their teacher training in the UK because they are getting paid the equivalent of the average industrial wage. They get paid even more if they are teaching a subject where teachers are in short supply. They are attracting young people to go and why would young people not go if they are getting paid the equivalent of a wage? Australia has introduced hard-to-fill allowances so if a school cannot fill a position, it can allocate an extra $20,000, for example. Those are the kinds of initiatives other governments are taking and there has not been a jot out of the Government here. We all know that unless it does that, it will not be able to solve the special schools crisis.”
“I know the Minister has announced something recently. The teacher shortage is not really mentioned in the programme for Government at all. I am beginning to wonder if the Government is denying that there is such a thing. I can absolutely guarantee that there is, particularly in urban areas where rents are very high. In January the INTO estimated that there would be 2,767 primary school teacher posts unfilled, a third of all posts. In March The Irish Times referred to an unpublished Department of Education and Youth report which showed 400 unfilled second level posts and also an additional 800 posts where teachers were not qualified in those subjects. We all know we can turn our hand to a lot of things but teachers are just not as good if they do have not the love and the interest in that subject.”
“I also want to mention school type. We have seen many reports lately from TDs in the background saying it is nearly woke now to not want your child forcibly immersed into a religion. We need non-segregated schools, particularly in younger urban areas. In Ashtown on the Navan Road there is a massive demand from parents to have a multi-gendered multidenominational school; there is none in that area at all. I want to discuss staff. Obviously, the education system thrives when it has committed staff. School secretaries balloted yesterday for strike action because of improper pensions and basically being treated very badly, as many women workers in this country are. It always seems to be women workers who are denied pension parity and are given precarity. We need to end precarity in education for SNAs and also for teachers.”
“We also have the ongoing saga of Castleknock Community College which will soon have 1,500 students. It is not the norm in Ireland to have a kind of high-school set-up. It does not have the pitches, facilities, etc., to deal with that. We also have ageing schools such as Coolmine Community School which was one of the first community schools in the country I believe. It has appealed to the Minister to access the emergency fund to repair the school roof. It has buckets on the floor. What sort of a system is that for about 1,000 students in the area? I ask the Minister to look into that. We need proper schools. We had a budget surplus for many years. Many students in St. Dominic's Community College cannot get into the transition year apparently because the funding for the school decreased which another real problem.”
“We also have a problem with demographics with the Department of education continually in denial that when we build houses we will need schools and it just seems to be a real problem. For example, the previous Minister said Ériu Community College did not need its own school and it is proposed to move that school 9 km away. It is a vast growing area. Tyrrelstown is also a fast-growing area. I will send details of 11 affected families to the Minister and she may be able to sort it out. There is no bus from Tyrrelstown to Onger where they have to go to school because they could not get into the local school. Bus Éireann has denied them school transport. Go Ahead has a bus but it does not operate in that area. What are they to do? Should they get one of the drones that plague the area?”
“There used to be loads of special allowances, even for comprehensive schools. The Government is not willing to look at this aspect and this is a real problem. I will come back to this point later. We also have a situation in Ireland where parents have to campaign for schools. This does not happen in most other developed countries. I represent a very multicultural area. I regularly go to meetings and people from other countries just cannot get over the fact it is necessary to launch a campaign to get a school in Ireland. Obviously, it is even more necessary for special schools. We have this whole issue of temporary buildings. Schools should be planned properly and tied in with development.”
“These 12 children were promised a place in the Danu special school but are now either sitting at home, staying in preschool or staying in unsuitable schools because the Minister of State's Department has not provided the modular building the school was promised. I know the Minister of State visited last week and listened to the issues in this regard. That is great and is appreciated. One of the issues, to which I will return later, is teacher recruitment and retention, which is a key problem. It is even more problematic for special education because it is just much more difficult. Is the Minister of State going to take any measures at all to address this issue? An example would be special allowances. There is a special allowance to teach in the Gaeltacht and one to teach on an island.”
“It is really about inclusive education rather than about something special. We all know, though, that in the past anybody who fitted into those categories and did not conform was just omitted from the system at an early age as an early school leaver. I am sure the Minister of State has been at all the debates that have taken place here all week, so I will not rehash them. We need investment so we can recruit the staff, build the required buildings and, obviously, provide training. From having taught myself, I know it is a very particular area in which those working need specialist training. In my area, we have the Danu 12.”
“The title of this session is statements on a world-class education system. We must begin by saying we do get very good outcomes in many ways given Ireland is near the end or in the lower part of the OECD in terms of education spending, which is about 8% below the average. However, we would be wrong to think we have a world-class education system. We have an education system that is quite ableist, driven by results and focused on serving the needs of industry. There are, for example, the extra points introduced for maths, the whole points race and so on. We must put these provisos on the record. We have a major crisis in what is called "special education". I do not particularly like that term because this is about education for every person, including anyone who is neurodivergent, autistic or disabled.”
“The occupied territories Bill will be delayed and watered down by the Government. Let us contrast this with what the Government did against Russia. Will the Tánaiste agree, for example, to do what it did in respect of Russia when it invaded Ukraine and freeze all Israeli assets in Ireland now? Will the Government issue travel bans against Israeli people, soldiers and business people who have businesses here and are supporting the genocide? Would the Tánaiste agree to do that? That is the type of action we need, not more words.”
“I am finding it hard to see how we are still here when thousands of babies died in Gaza last night while food trucks with baby formula and baby food were sitting nearby. Netanyahu has issued evacuation orders to annihilate Gaza, and his finance minister has said, "the world still hasn't stopped us". He is right. I do not want to hear about how the Government is the best in the class, because all of the others are so terrible. The EU and the West have allowed this genocide to happen and they are not lifting a finger. I want to ask the Tánaiste about Ireland's action, not statements or words. Can he identify one serious sanction taken by Ireland to stop Israel? No action has been taken at Shannon Airport, which is used by the US, which is backing the genocide, to refuel. The Central Bank is processing war bonds.”
“It is a mistake for Sinn Féin to lean into this racist sentiment in society. It will not win Sinn Féin any votes. All it does is give grounds and arguments to the far right. It will not work.”
“By the way, it is surely better for integrating people into society to have them living in a community or on a street alongside other people rather than stuck in one building with maybe hundreds of other people. It is much better as a form of integration. In one of the scenarios, the Minister of State found that even if 10% of people were to stop using the scheme because of this reduction, it would cost €7 million more to house the people affected in private accommodation than the State would have had to pay otherwise. I see this as being a part of a general trend of cruelty and hostility towards people seeking international protection and migrants in general. It adds to the message that goes out of "Don't come here", and it sends a message to Ukrainians to go back to their country.”
“Also, we know there will be opposition. If all of these people are turfed out of their accommodation, there will be opposition to building large-scale facilities as we have seen in every single town and county. It is irresponsible to cut the scheme and then propose it be ditched altogether. Most people have had a positive experience. The scheme is far from perfect; I am not saying it is perfect. There is a lack of oversight and there are issues such as people being asked for top-up payments, which obviously happens in the private sector as well. According to the Irish Red Cross, people have been participating out of a sense of benevolence and wanting to help people who are fleeing war. The scheme could be extended to other groups in the future, rather than the State having to seek accommodation for them.”
“I also do not support the change to this scheme or the amendment proposed. Let us put this in context. Some 91% of the people who are participating in hosting refugees under this scheme have never been landlords before. It is not true that this scheme will interfere or has interfered with the housing market because nine out of ten of hosts never would have been landlords. I do not understand why this argument is being made consistently other than to potentially lean in to some of the anti-refugee or racist sentiment that is building up in society. The second issue is that two thirds of those surveyed might also be open to hosting other refugees. Given that we know this scheme is costing the State a lot less than housing refugees in State accommodation would, it is important to note that it is being cut off as an option.”
“The service does not have the necessary independence because it is very close to the management of the zoo. It does not have the zoological expertise on wild animals. I have a report that was done 30 years ago. I am asking the Minister of State to do an independent investigation into Dublin Zoo and these issues.”
“This is not on. There is also the climate we have in Dublin Zoo. The size of the enclosure, at less than 1 ha, is absolutely cruel and barbaric. There is also an elephant consultant who is a dogfighter. Does the Minister of State think that is okay, in Dublin Zoo? I have been told that the chimps are obese. They are agoraphobic because they have been locked up for so long. They have no stimulation. They are on a cocktail of medication for depression and schizophrenia. They have had teeth taken out and they have been castrated. There is one orangutan left and the current orangutan had three offspring that she rejected because these are such unnatural conditions for any animal to be in. I do not have time to go into all the issues, but the NPWS is meant to investigate Dublin Zoo. It is within the Minister of State's brief.”
“The belief that zoos are necessary to preserve rare animals and biodiversity is the only justification for maintaining them. Why would we think it is okay for some animals to suffer to maintain biodiversity? In any case, it is not true because zoos do not lead to that. I have heard the Minister of State's great credentials. I am asking him to be the first Minister of State to look into Dublin Zoo. I have spoken to a number of former workers who are whistleblowers and are very concerned about animal welfare there, as well as other issues like work practices and sexual harassment as well. However, I am especially focusing on animal welfare here. Take the elephants for example. Dina, who is much-lauded, had her sister split up from her and other offspring taken away despite matriarchy and family being so important to elephants.”
“The Tánaiste said global momentum is building, but what happened yesterday with the EU? Those concerned sat on their hands as this information was brought to their attention. The EU and UK are feeling the pressure because half a million people took to the streets in London and there were huge marches all over the globe. The global movement of ordinary people is the only light that shows humanity still exists. The sanctions the EU has imposed on Russia include travel bans, the immobilisation of €210 billion in Russian central bank assets, and trade restrictions. What has the EU imposed on Israel? Absolutely zilch. One hundred and nine thousand people are considered to be dead, according to The Economist . The Government can pass the occupied territories Bill, stop Shannon being used, take away the definition of "antisemitism"-----”
“The Israeli finance minister stated, “We are annihilating everything that remains in the Strip”, “we are conquering, clearing and staying”, and “the world still hasn’t stopped us”. That is the Israeli finance minister admitting in plain sight that Israel is carrying out a genocide. Food trucks are sitting by with baby food and baby formula, and 14,000 babies are set to face death in the next 48 hours, according to the UN. What does malnutrition actually look like? It is a shutting down of the body’s mechanisms. It is absolutely the most horrible way for people to die. The Taoiseach said “no business as usual” but it is business as usual.”
“It is about investing money to recruit teachers, therapists, SNAs, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychologists and to provide proper buildings to put classes into. For assessments of need, the Government could recruit in the short term for a big project to clear those lists and people would turn up and do the work.”
“Approximately 530 posts are unfilled because people are leaving the public sector due to the stress and strain. Then, because it is told to do so by the Government, the HSE has to pay those same therapists, when they go to the private sector, to carry out assessments of need that should be done in the public sector, each costing €3,300. Those people could work in the public sector like they always used to if it was an attractive place to work, they could live on the pay, and there was promotion and recognition and enough staff to do their work. Until that happens, this crisis will continue. The Government is willing to spend €100 million on military jets but is not willing to put in the money needed for this issue. It is not complex; it is very simple. Please do not try to pretend it is really complicated.”
“There is a massive shortage of therapists. Only 7% of assessments of need are done on time. The Government is breaking the law for the other 93%. In Dublin 15, the Blakestown CDNT has a seven and a half year waiting list, while the list in the other CDNT is a bit shorter. This is ruining the development and the lives of many children. I am sick, sore and tired of hearing a Minister say it is not acceptable. You are the Minister. You should resign if it is not acceptable. The other Minister, who is not here now, said the whole system was not fit for purpose. What a disgrace that they are willing to stay in their positions. They have been in government for years. The other issue is that we carry on regardless and take no action on the huge problem of the shortages in CDNTs.”
“There is another pretence as well - this Government denies there is a chronic crisis and shortage in teacher recruitment and retention and the same for professional therapists. If the Government keeps denying that, this problem will persist. I have spoken to many principals and saw it myself when I went back into teaching. Australia is recruiting teachers hand over fist from Ireland because it provides 20 grand extra in pay. The UK is attracting people to do teacher training there while this Government has done not one thing. It has not brought in a special education allowance, which principals in special schools have been asking for. It has not brought in a city allowance, which is vital if you want to get people to teach and be able to afford to pay rent in Dublin. This problem will persist until the Government does something about it.”
“I too pay tribute to Cara and her father and all the campaigners and the people who have already slept outside the Dáil this year, Families Unite for Services and Support, FUSS, Equality in Education, ASD15 and the myriad local groups that have been banging on about this issue for a long time. One thing I have learned about neurodivergent, autistic and disabled people is that they hate social pretence and falsity. There is a lot of pretence going here on all night. First, Government TDs pretending they are not in the Government. Second, that they are not part of the problem and it is the fault of the HSE, not Government policy, which obviously determines everything. The other pretence is that a sanctioned school class for autism is an actual class. That is the pretence we have been hearing about all year.”
“Fly to the school? Some of them are single-income households that do not have cars so they have been trying to organise carpooling for the last year. They are being pushed back by the State at every single turn. Many of them are extremely hard workers who came to this country 20 years ago. Surely they are entitled to school transport. I ask the Taoiseach to look into the situation.”
“Community development is also important in large suburbs and urban areas. As the Taoiseach knows, there has been massive development in Dublin West, in many cases without the necessary transport and schools. We have large populations but now we have no transport links between many of the suburbs. Could the Taoiseach look into a situation? There are 11 families in Tyrrelstown who cannot get into their local school, Le Chéile Secondary School, so they all have to go to Ongar, which is 9 km away. They have been told they are not eligible for school transport because the school in Ongar is not their nearest school. Also, there is no bus route supplied at all in the area. I have written to Go-Ahead Ireland to see if it can extend a bus service it has and Bus Éireann has again rejected its application. What are these 11 parents meant to do?”
“The Government's new policy on justice and migration is to increase the number of deportations, particularly by using chartered flights. The Minister goes on social media to announce that a charter flight has taken place. Is this not virtue signalling to the increased racism that there is in society and to the far right? We have already seen this week the backing down from a migration centre in Coolock. Is it any wonder when the Government is sending a message out to the public that refugees and asylum seekers are to be feared and are a drain? The Minister stated, "Stepping up enforcement and securing our borders is a central commitment". Our borders are not in danger from people who come here seeking refuge. Why is that language being used? How much are these flights costing for the virtue signalling that the Government is doing?”
“If dogs and cats were kept in any of those conditions, there would be a public outcry - no question - but because these are farm animals, it seems to be acceptable. Nobody should want their food produced in this way. The pig industry is in decline in Ireland and it remains very intensive. There is a smaller number of farms but they are doing it on an industrial scale. We need to see a move away from CAP grants being 80% livestock farming and only 20% tillage to allow farmers to have financial security so that they can move away from animal production and more into tillage, with Teagasc grants as well. I would appreciate if the Minister could give a commitment to look into the allegations made, which are backed up by a vet, presented at a press conference a couple of months ago in Buswells Hotel and are on NARA's website as well.”
“Following that investigation, an anonymous call was made to the Department of agriculture's animal welfare unit by the people who took part to report what was witnessed on the grounds of animal welfare and biosecurity. All the footage and details of these farms have been handed in to the Department of agriculture. I am hoping this will be acted upon. Regardless of any prosecutions, it is very clear the pig industry in Ireland should be shut down because it is not adhering to those most basic things. Something like this would need a transition period. Farmers would need to be financially incentivised to move away from pig production. We also need a system where no animal should be in stalls, crates or pens. They should be content and well cared for.”
“Others were fearful and sadness and stress was displayed and undeniable according to a vet who looked into the findings. There was a stench of faeces, urine and decay on many of the farms. There was blatant cruelty and complete absence of any hint of compassion towards these animals. Somebody is going in there every day and seeing this happening. Welfare codes usually list five basic freedoms for animals, which I am sure the Minister is familiar with: freedom from hunger, discomfort, pain, injury and disease, freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour which is impossible in those conditions and freedom from fear and distress. None of these five freedoms were upheld on these farms.”
“Tail docking, although banned in the EU, is allowed if it is necessary for a farmer to do so. I have a report on an investigation the National Animal Rights Association, NARA, did in January 2024. All this information has been passed over to the Minister's Department and I would like him to answer what is going to be done about it. The farms chosen were picked randomly in an effort to give an honest and unbiased insight into what happens in Ireland. Inside, there were awful sheds - as you will see from the videos on their website - where pigs were in sow stalls, farrowing crates and fattening pens, as I said. There were dead and dying pigs left to struggle in gangways, and many pig and piglets were sick and injured. Some were biting the bars of their pens repeatedly, which is stereotypical stress-induced behaviour.”
“The piglets are then taken away from their mother and put into fattening pens, even though they would naturally still be suckling from their mothers until approximately three months old. It is a very cruel practice. Depending on their weight, they are then slaughtered at about five to six months of age. Pigs are stunned using CO2 gas which is not in any way humane, contrary to popular belief. The majority of pigs in Ireland spend their entire lives indoors with no comfortable bedding, fresh air or sunlight. Currently, it is a legal requirement that pigs are provided with eight hours of artificial light a day. Enrichment - a form of mental stimulation - is also meant to be provided for pigs. This is a legal requirement but it is not reality. According to Teagasc, the most common form of enrichment is a metal chain that hangs down.”
“The improvements are not significant regarding animal welfare. CAP simplifies measures served to roll back on the limited animal welfare provisions. I want to highlight an example of some of the animal abuse taking place in our industry that has been exposed, in particular, by a report by NARA. One of the sectors is the pig industry. There are approximately 270 commercial pig farms in the pig industry in Ireland. Annually, they produce an average of 3.5 million pigs that are slaughtered here every year. We have practices that are banned in other parts of the EU, such as sow stalls that are permitted in Ireland for up to four weeks of pregnancy. Usually a week before giving birth, the sows are put into farrowing crates where they are kept until their piglets are about four weeks old.”
“Small farmers are ripped off in the supply chains by retailers and profits are going to the food industry and the retail sector. There is a drive towards destructive industrial farming and it does not do anything for the small farmer. CAP is not subject to ecology ambitions of the Green Deal and it is already too little too late. The European Union is extremely dependent, structurally, on imports of food and animal feed from third countries whose production systems are unsustainable and, in some cases, use slave labour. At the same time, the EU subsidises exports to developing countries with the effect of destabilising markets and food insecurity. I want to deal with some of the changes to CAP that have pulled back on environmental conditionalities and animal welfare improvement. Biodiversity is not a key issue for CAP.”
“In 2024, changes to CAP pulled back on even modest environmental conditionalities. There is no real link-in with the EU so-called Green New Deal. There is no obligation on member states to bring in provisions. This amounts to a massive greenwashing. We need a dairy reduction scheme and incentives to empower farmers to transition from animal to vegetable agriculture to reduce intensive monocultural farming and act as stewards of the land. There is a biodiversity crisis and CAP does not do enough to deal with it. The budget for Ireland's CAP strategic plan is €9.8 billion and an estimated 2.5% of that will result in effective action for biodiversity, a tiny fraction. Security for small farmers is not delivered either by CAP. A thousand a day are leaving the sector across the EU.”
“Ireland's agricultural industry is an environmental laggard. Agriculture here and in the EU is based on a capitalist economic model of industrial-scale farming that is hugely unsustainable, produces environmental destruction and fails to provide sustainable and secure incomes for small and medium farmers in Ireland and globally into the future. CAP is part of that unsustainable global system of agriculture. It is a policy that intensifies unsustainability and deepens the crisis. Environmentally, agriculture is responsible for 10% of the EU's GHG emissions while it is responsible for 37.8% of Ireland's GHG emissions, making it the single biggest polluting sector in the State. There are many factors for this, one being the disproportionately large dependence on dairy and no steps are being taken to really address this.”
“Survivors of sexual and gender-based violence have been for many years seeking a ban on counselling notes being used in trials because it is so traumatising and damaging. This weekend, Jacqueline Connolly, the sister of Clodagh Hawe, who was murdered along with her children by her husband, spoke about a priest who pleaded confessional privilege who had vital information relating to those crimes but was able to not give that information by the laws of the State. We have a situation where victims of gender-based violence can have their therapy notes seized but somebody who has information about a serious crime, if a priest, can keep it all secret. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice favour ending this practice. They have said so in the past. Next week, survivors of gender-based violence are due to meet the Minister.”
“The Industrial Relations Act, a significant impediment to workers having the right to effectively organise, can be breached and challenged. That is what you do to get rid of unjust laws. Again, the Debenhams workers and others did it by having mass pickets when the stock was being taken out of shops. It is critical that the trade union leadership makes itself relevant again in this era because it is clear young workers and migrant workers want to join unions. I am assisting migrant healthcare assistants, as the Minister of State will know, who are joining the Unite trade union. It is very positive to see this for migrant workers but there also needs to be a fighting lead given by all the unions to recruit in these sectors and actually represent them.”
“We want workers to join unions but those unions must be fighting unions. The Debenhams workers were a highly unionised workforce and look what happened to them. Unfortunately, because they received no support from their union leadership, they had to do it all themselves and self-organise during a pandemic in a very difficult situation where the company had bolted and left them. As I have said before, the Government needs to do a number if things to ensure workers never again lose even their redundancy, never mind the paltry claim given to them by the courts. We need fighting trade unions. Much of the union leadership is hiding behind the fact that there are anti-union laws. They can organise against anti-union laws.”
“The 5% increase they got was a win for Dunnes workers but Mandate highlighted the lack of progress on paid maternity and paternity leave. A growing number of competitors in the retail sector have introduced paid leave for new parents and Mandate believes it is time for Dunnes Stores to do the same. This is one of the biggest companies in the country refusing to give the most basic rights to its workers, particularly women workers who make up a large percentage of its workforce. We also know the last-minute contracts are designed to militate against trade union membership and recognition because it is very difficult for a young or new worker brought in to know what their contracts are. We know workers with union membership are not allowed on the shop floor in many of these places. Of course, we also have to be realistic here.”
“We know this from going back to the anti-apartheid strike and it has continued to have this policy for 40 years. In 2015, Dunnes workers had to hold a ballot for the right to have their union engaged with by Dunnes. The company also refused - I do not know how the Minister of State feels about this - to recognise Labour Court recommendations. We all know Labour Court recommendations are not compulsory. Workers can also reject them but when they do we hear nothing but abuse of those workers in the media. That does not happen when employers reject them. It is incredible that very recently, in December 2024, Mandate urged Dunnes Stores to engage on outstanding elements of the comprehensive 2024 pay and benefits claims.”
“In Tesco, in December 2024, members of Mandate trade union launched public protests following Tesco management's decision to deny workers their right to be represented by their union and its refusal to agree an adequate pay increase. Tesco management is refusing to collectively bargain and is instead imposing its own pay awards on the workers, not what the union is actually fighting for. This was not due to lack of profits of course - Tesco sales profits rose by 10% but workers only got pay increases of less than 4%. One of the Mandate representatives said the company's actions could only be seen as a clear act of bad faith and textbook union-busting tactics. I also want to mention Dunnes Stores, an Irish company with a rotten tradition of dealing with trade unions and workers.”
“I supported young workers in Aldi in the early 2000s, who joined the union on Parnell Street and were sacked. In theory, they were not sacked for joining the union because companies cannot do that legally. They find other means to sack them, such as giving them work they cannot do and creating difficult conditions. That is the modus operandi of companies, to flout our Irish law. The retail sector was traditionally very unionised, because workers fought for those rights. There is now a significant anti-union policy, not just in Aldi and Lidl, but in the two big private sector employers in this country, Tesco and Dunnes. Workers there have long-standing trade union memberships but the companies are actively not recognising the workers and their union.”
“Owen Reidy, who is the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said, "The government voted for this directive in Brussels over two years ago but has ignored it and obfuscated in Dublin ever since. The Directive is about the state being obliged to promote collective bargaining so workers and employers can negotiate in the workplace and at sectoral level to improve living conditions." There are many other quotes about it from leading figures in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, saying how unacceptable it is that the Irish Government has not implemented that directive. I raise strikes for trade union recognition too. I have been involved in supporting workers on such strikes over many years. Companies like Aldi and Lidl, which now proliferate through the country, have a conscious anti-union policy.”