I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time.
The Bill deals with the question of the interruption of supplies of electricity arising out of trade disputes and I should like to explain to the House that its provisions would become effective only on the making of an Order by the Government and the power in the Bill to make an Order bringing the Bill into effect would be exercisable by the Government only in circumstances where the supply of electricity is interrupted or in imminent danger of being interrupted. There would be discussion by the Dáil since such an order would be placed before both Houses of the Oireachtas and could be annulled by either House.
It is not the type of legislation which the Government thought it would ever be obliged to introduce but the community cannot carry on without electricity. There are two possible methods by which an interruption of the supplies of electricity could be provided against securely. One method would be the negotiation of a voluntary arrangement by the employees of the Electricity Supply Board to give up their right to such action as would bring about interruption or serious danger of interruption in the supply of electricity. We have not got this voluntary arrangement. In its absence, the Government, on behalf of the community, must have resort to the only alternative method, that is to seek legislative powers to deal with such a contingency. We do not regard this as the more desirable procedure. I should like to stress that the Government do not regard it as desirable at all. I regret to say that circumstances have arisen which place a clear obligation on the Government to take power to be able to act in the event of an electricity crisis.
The facts of the situation are sufficiently well known and do not call for a lengthy statement from me. It is no revelation to say that in our western civilisation conditions of life have by now become extraordinarily complex. The paradox is that our technical advances have placed us on a razor edge and day by day we are becoming more and more dependent on the smooth flow of supplies and services which themselves are caught up in a web of interdependence. In this situation, electricity is no longer a matter of mere relative importance in our lives. Today, the importance of electricity is absolute. When speaking on the subject of industrial relations in Ennis in December last, I said that the extension of the principle that a man can withdraw his labour to include the right of a trade union to call a major strike in an essential industry is like putting a nuclear warhead on a conventional weapon.
The realities of the situation in which we now find ourselves transcend any such issues as traditional rights of sectional interests. When the lifeline of the nation is in danger, if the nation cannot look to the State for protection, then chaos is come. The ESB is an agency of the State and is the nerve centre of our everyday lives. No one in that organisation could be unaware of the havoc that a serious strike could cause. It would be naive to suggest that it is necessary to place pickets on ESB installations in order to let people know there is a trade dispute on. The various media now available for the dissemination of news see to it that we know what is happening. Therefore the effect of picketing is to disrupt the organisation so that it cannot supply the people with the electricity which is vitally necessary.
If that is not the purpose of pickets on ESB installations, then they have little meaning at all. The one simple, basic fact in this whole matter is that we cannot carry on now without electricity. The workers who supply us with electricity are in a unique position. They know the position, as indeed does every man and woman in Ireland know it now.
If an Order is made bringing the Act into operation, it will give legal effect to the rates of remuneration and conditions of service to people employed in the ESB. This will not prevent rates or conditions being varied as a result of determination by one or other of the statutory ESB tribunals, or a determination by an arbitrator, or a recommendation by the Labour Court. The legislation would make it unlawful for the Board of the ESB to remunerate any of its employees or apply conditions of service otherwise than in accordance with what I have just said. Strikes and picketing aimed at forcing issues of remuneration and conditions other than those determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Bill would be illegal if they interrupt or threaten imminently to interrupt the electricity supply.
The House is aware that the normal traditional method for resolving differences is by free collective bargaining. The Government would prefer to see the parties in the ESB settling their differences in this way, through the agreed negotiating procedures. If the parties fail to settle in this way, and if there is serious disruption of electricity supply or imminent danger of disruption, then the provisions of this legislation must be applied. The Bill does not attempt to abolish the fundamental rights of workers to strike. Its intention is to curtail that right on a narrow front where the exercise of the right would lead to a shut-down of electricity supply and so bring the country to a halt. I am not speaking about anything outside the experience of Deputies. Twice within the last couple of weeks this danger has appeared and has been brought home to us.
I do not know why Deputies saw fit to make remarks about my colleague, the Minister for Transport and Power, because he is not handling this. He, like all Ministers, participates in a collective responsibility for the measure but matters relating to trade union law, or relating to industrial relations law, are the sole responsibility of the Minister for Industry and Commerce and this explains why the Minister for Transport and Power is not handling this Bill. I recommend the provisions of the Bill to the House. As I said, its purpose is to enable the Government to act in a contingency and even though, as some Deputy remarked, the crisis seems more remote now, what the Bill seeks is to give power to the Government to make an Order if a crisis is upon us.