Trevor Sargent
Question:51 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the criteria for the licensing of a trade union; and the way in which these criteria have changed in the past ten years. [21550/00]
Written Answers. - Trade Union Recognition.
Section 7 of the Trade Union Act, 1941, as amended by section 2 of the Trade Union Act, 1971, section 17 of the Trade Union Act, 1975, and sections 16 and 21 of the 1990 Industrial Relations Act restrict the granting and holding of a negotiation licence to a trade union registered under the Trade Union Acts, 1871 to 1935, or a trade union under the law of another country, with its headquarters control in that country, and which fulfils the following five conditions: at least 18 months before the date of application for a licence it notifies its intention to make an application to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the ICTU and any trade union of which any members of the applicant trade union are members and publishes in at least one daily newspaper a notice of its intention to make an application in the format prescribed in the Trade Union Act, 1971 (Notice of Intention to apply for Negotiation Licence) Regulations, 1972, S.I. No. 158 of 1972; satisfies the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment that, both at the date of its application and over the 18 month period before the date of its application, it had not less than 1,000 members resident in the State; deposits and keeps on deposit with the High Court for the 18 months before the date of its application a sum ranging from £20,000 to £60,000, depending on membership numbers as prescribed in the Third Schedule to the 1990 Industrial Relations Act, or such sum as the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment may determine if it is a trade union which has been formed wholly or mainly from two or more trade unions which have amalgamated and each of which, immediately before the amalgamation, had been the holder of a negotiation licence; its rules incorporate the provisions of section 14 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990, relating to sec ret ballots and in the case of a trade union under the law of another country, the trade union has forwarded a copy of its rules to the Registrar of Friendly Societies; in the case of a trade union under the law of another country it has a committee of management or other controlling authority consisting solely of members resident in the State who are empowered by the rules of the trade union to take decisions in matters solely and directly affecting members resident in the State or in Northern Ireland,
In addition, a registered trade union or a trade union under the law of another country which has deposited and keeps deposited with the High Court the required sum appropriate to its membership in accordance with the Third Schedule to the 1990 Industrial Relations Act but which does not fulfil one or more of the other conditions can qualify for a negotiation licence by applying to the High Court for a declaration under section 3 of the Trade Union Act, 1971, that the granting of a negotiating licence would not be against the public interest.
Question No 52 taken with Question No. 19
Question No. 53 taken with Question No. 48.