This Bill is primarily designed to establish, under the aegis of the Labour Court, a joint labour committee for agricultural workers. The proposed committee will have responsibility for the future regulation of the rates of pay and conditions of employment of agricultural workers. Approximately 34,000 such workers will come within the ambit of the new committee.
As I mentioned when the Bill was before the Dáil, this is the first significant legislative measure to be introduced by a Government for the improvement of the general conditions of agricultural workers since the Agricultural Wages Act was passed back in 1936. The implementation of the provisions of this Bill will result in the replacement of the Agricultural Wages Board, established under the 1936 Act, by a joint labour committee. The basis of representation on this committee will ensure the co-operation of agricultural employer and worker interests in determining the future pay and conditions of agricultural workers.
In recent years there have been many complaints that the pay and conditions of employment of agricultural employees have been allowed to fall behind the standards obtaining in other employments. The new Bill should help to remedy the causes of these complaints as it provides, in effect, that agricultural workers shall be brought within the scope of the machinery operating in industry for the regulation of pay and conditions of employment. The joint labour committee system of negotiating the pay and working conditions of an industry already operates in respect of 42,000 industrial workers through the medium of 21 joint labour committees. The new joint labour committee will, no doubt work towards achieving a greater harmonisation between the pay and conditions of agricultural workers and those of other industrial employees.
Senators will not need to be reminded of the continuing decline in the numbers working on the land which poses a threat to the future prosperity of the agricultural sector. The higher wages and better conditions prevailing in industry have undoubtedly been significant factors in accelerating this "flight from the land". If therefore this drift is to be halted, or at least reduced, it is clear that the remuneration and conditions of agricultural workers must be brought into line with those obtaining in the industrial sector. I believe that the new joint labour committee will have an important role to play in this area.
While agricultural workers have in the past had access to the Labour Court in the event of a trade dispute, they have been generally excluded from the scope of the Industrial Relations Acts which provide the legal framework for the establishment of joint labour committees. The Bill rectifies this position and provides that in future agricultural workers will have full access to the machinery of the Labour Court for the negotiation of their pay and working conditions. Agricultural workers will also be enabled in future to be parties to registered agreements relating to wages and conditions of employment and will be included among the classes of workers in respect of which joint industrial councils may be registered with the Labour Court.
A few remarks about the structure of joint labour committees may be helpful to Senators at this point. A joint labour committee comprises a chairman and two independent members appointed by the Minister for Labour. It also has an equal number of members nominated by the two sides of industry. The chairman has a casting vote in the event of deadlock. Orders by the Labour Court settling the statutory minimum wages and conditions of employment in an industry are made on the basis of proposals emanating from the appropriate joint labour committee. The rates of pay and other conditions agreed upon by both sides and set down in an employment regulation order are legally enforceable.
I have just described the normal composition of a joint labour committee. Following detailed consultation with the various interested parties I have agreed to certain modifications of the normal manner of appointment of members to a joint labour committee in the case of the proposed committee for agricultural workers. The Bill provides that the chairman and independent members of the proposed joint labour committee for agricultural workers will be appointed by me only after consultation with, and with the agreement of, the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. Two panels for the selection of employer and worker members of the committee shall be prepared following consultation with the relevant employer/ worker interests and these shall be subject to consultation with, and the agreement of, the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.
The Labour Court will continue to retain its statutory function of making the actual appointments. This modification of the normal procedure was necessary to meet the reservations of the farming organisations without whose co-operation the joint labour committee could not be set up. The workers' organisations have raised no objections to this proposed arrangement. As the new joint labour committee will cover so many workers, 34,000, it is only prudent that both the Ministers for Labour and for Agriculture and Fisheries should have sight of the panels before they are submitted to the Labour Court for the making of the appointments.
The Bill provides for the abolition of the agricultural wages board as on and from the making by the Labour Court of the first employment regulation order setting standards under the new system. The general inspectorate of the Department of Labour will from that time have responsibility for the enforcement of the provisions of employment regulation orders emerging from the committee. During the passage of the Bill through the Dáil I introduced amendments broadening the definition of "agriculture" so as to clarify that workers employed in horticulture, poultry farming, racing stables and stud farms and in gardens and sports grounds will be covered by the terms of the new joint labour committee.
The Agricultural Wages Board have hitherto been responsible for enforcing the holiday entitlements of agricultural workers which are provided for under a number of Agricultural Workers (Holidays) Acts. It is my intention to exercise the powers already vested in me under sections 2 and 14 of the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973, to provide that agricultural workers will be brought within the scope of that Act by regulation.
The recent widening range of worker protection legislation has imposed a heavy additional burden of work on the Labour Court. For example, the Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act, 1974, provides for adjudication by the court on cases arising from the submission of equal pay claims, and the Anti-Discrimination (Employment) Bill will give an important role to the court in adjudicating on disputes about equal treatment of men and women in relation to employment. The Bill before the House will of course provide extra work for the court. In addition to the work arising from the legislative measures referred to, the court has had to deal with an expanding volume of work in other areas. I might mention in this regard that I made more extensive use of section 24 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1946, than any of my predecessors and the work load of the court has of course also increased substantially due to its role in relation to the national agreements. The number of recommendations on disputes issued by the court has increased considerably in recent years from a total of 232 in 1972 to 395 in 1975. It has become evident that the early appointment of at least one additional division of the court is desirable in order to equip the court to deal more effectively with its increasing workload. The court at present operates in three divisions and I introduced an amendment to the Bill in the Dáil to facilitate the appointment by order of additional divisions of the court. An expanded court will ensure the continuance of an efficient service by the court.
The Bill makes special provision for the establishment of the joint labour committee for agricultural workers immediately after enactment of the Bill, thus dispensing in the interests of urgency with the time-consuming consultations normally involved prior to the making of an establishment order. I expect therefore to see the new joint labour committee in operation in the very near future.
I commend the Bill to the House.