Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and members for giving me the opportunity to address them on the draft Regulations on the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) (Exclusion of Workers in the Fishing and Shipping Sectors) 2021. The draft regulations are before the committee by virtue of the procedural requirements of section 28 of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996. This provides that a draft of every regulation proposed to be made under the Act shall be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and that the proposed regulation shall not be made until a resolution approving the draft has been passed by each House.

The draft regulations amend the Protection of Young Persons in Employment Act 1996, providing for additional protections for young people engaged in the fishing sector. The Act must be amended by these regulations to complement the full transposition of EU Directive 2017/159 on the implementation of the social partners' agreement on the Work in Fishing Convention. This directive is primarily a matter for the Department of Transport but certain requirements of the directive require sectoral amendments to the Protection of Young Persons in Employment Act 1996, which falls under my Department. These will ensure that the directive is fully implemented in Irish law. It is important to emphasise that the protections offered by the directive are already applicable to all young persons in employment under EU law but that Ireland is required to fully transpose the directive to ensure its protections are carried over into our national law.

These short draft regulations are solely concerned with enhancing protections for young persons who are employed in the fishing sector, including by restricting night-time work, working hours and holiday work. They are not connected to general working conditions on fishing vessels and do not have an impact beyond young persons aged between 16 and 17.

The draft regulations will need to be read in conjunction with SI 179 of 2020, entitled European Union (International Labour Organisation Work in Fishing Convention) (Minimum Age) Regulations 2020. This statutory instruction, which was introduced by the Minister for Transport, sets out the enhanced protections introduced by the EU directive that apply to young persons aged between 16 and 17 who are employed in the fishing industry. These are now included in the draft regulations for consideration by the committee today.

These regulations provide that a young person may be in engaged in night-time work in the fishing industry only if it is required for essential training purposes and provides for appropriate rest periods. The regulations also mean that a person aged 15 may only do light work on board a fishing vessel during school holidays provided that the hours of work do not exceed seven in any day or 35 in any week.