Ireland: Consultation on collective bargaining

Ireland launches public consultation on the content of Ireland’s forthcoming action plan on collective bargaining to meet EU Directive requirements. The department is  seeking stakeholder input until May 12, 2025

The key points: Ireland has launched a public consultation to gather stakeholder views on promoting collective bargaining, in line with EU Directive requirements for countries with collective bargaining rates below 80%.

Why this matters: The outcome of this consultation could shape Ireland's approach to collective bargaining, potentially affecting labor relations and wage negotiations across various sectors.

What might happen next: Ireland will develop an action plan to promote collective bargaining by the end of 2025, based on the consultation results. However, the effectiveness of such measures may be limited by workers' and employers' willingness to engage in collective bargaining.

What you should be doing: Consider making a submission and/or contacting your relevant sectoral or employer organisation (e.g. IBEC). We will be circulating a paper in the coming two weeks. 

European Comment: We have repeatedly stated the view that you cannot make workers join unions if they do not wish to do so nor can you force parties to bargain with one another if one party has no interest in doing so and the other party does not have the leverage to bring them to the table. 

Certainly, you can pass a law that obliges one party to meet with another, but no law can ever force parties to come to an agreement. If it is suggested that, in the absence of an agreement, terms and conditions should be imposed on the parties through, for instance, the Labour Court, then that is not collective bargaining. It is an agency of the state determining working conditions. Best avoided. 

We will expand on our comments on this and circulate to members. We will also make them available to IBEC, Ireland’s main employers’ organisation.

See EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages 

Full details of the public consultation can be found at this webpage: The consultation opened on 14 April, and runs until 5pm on Monday, 12th May 2025.