During 1999, 215,000 man days were lost due to industrial action, of which 170,000 can be accounted for by one dispute, namely, the nurses dispute. According to figures released by the Central Statistics Office at the end of September, 26,353 days were lost due to industrial disputes during the first six months of this year compared to 28,191 for the first six months of 1999.
I am concerned at the extent of industrial action taking place and threatened. This has to be seen in the context of very clear procedures on industrial peace and stabilisation agreed between the parties earlier this year in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. More generally, the industrial relations and dispute resolution procedures and institutions in place are essentially those which the parties themselves desire. It is incumbent on those parties to work with these procedures and institutions and to accept and respect the outcomes.
I call on employers and trade unions to recommit themselves to reaching agreement through negotiations where the parties cannot agree among themselves and to use the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court whose record at settling disputes is excellent.