Commission on Vocational Organization

Commission on Vocational Organization, appointed by the Fianna Fáil government in 1939 to report on the practicability of developing vocational organization in Ireland; the means of achieving this; the rights and powers that should be conferred on vocational bodies; and the relationship between vocational bodies and the government and legislature. Irish interest in vocational organization was a response to the publication in 1931 of the papal encyclical Quadragesimo anno, which discussed the ‘Reconstruction of the Social Order’. It was also in part a reaction against the substantial increase in intervention by government in the economy since the Fianna Fáil government had come to power in 1932. Support for the concept was much stronger within Fine Gael, the main opposition party, than in government ranks. The commission recommended the establishment of a national vocational organization, which would act as the final arbiter in disputes between various interest groups and would play a major role in negotiating collective wage and price agreements. When the report was published in 1943 it was largely ignored, though it influenced the structure of the Labour Court which was established in 1946.

Mary Daly