Sir, – Noel Whelan is justifiably critical of this Government's legislative inertia, and of the slow pace with which Bills are proceeding through the Oireachtas ("New politics means little legislation", Opinion & Analysis, January 27th). However, he should be aware that just before Christmas, the Seanad passed a private members' Bill which I had introduced with my Labour colleagues, the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2016. This important legislation was the first private members' Bill to pass all stages in either the Dáil or Seanad since the 2016 election. It provides collective bargaining rights to vulnerable self-employed workers, and has been strongly welcomed by trade unions representing, for example, freelance journalists. We hope it will progress without delay through the Dáil – and that we will see more Opposition initiatives like this being supported by the Government under so-called "new politics". – Yours, etc,
IVANA BACIK,
Seanad Éireann, Dublin 2.