Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Having seen a press report on the first issue, I will do anything I can to deal with the issue in Germany re the World Cup and prostitution.

On the second issue, early last summer I made it clear inside and outside the House and at some EU conferences I attended on the country of origin principle that major difficulties would be created. I was lobbied by trade unions, small firms associations and others on these difficulties. We had difficulties in many areas and sectors, including that mentioned. Perhaps we do not all agree in this House but I understand most Members who are MEPs agreed on most of these issues. On the country of origin issue, I stated that if it was not amended it would cause grave difficulties.

I am aware of the point Deputy Rabbitte is making about employment agencies. I have not been involved in the detail of how best to resolve it but the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, has. While we have legislation on employment agencies and how they operate and have amended this legislation, this matter continually arises.

I have received reports on a range of sectors from individuals, trade unions, and families. Individuals should be caught if they breach employment guidelines and the minimum wage. In cases my office has checked, these have not been breached. Instead, they pay less than the going rate but are clever enough in operating to avoid breaching regulations. I do not suggest that people should only be paid the minimum rate when they are working hard. It is difficult to deal with these cases as workers may be paid higher than the minimum rate. Increasingly, I hear of cases where people are offered a position at a particular rate, which is substantially less than the weekly rate when the hours are calculated.

This is causing a difficulty and we must examine this in our system before examining the European system. Anything we agree collectively with the European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC, or discussions on this concerns minimum rates or minimum guidelines. Perhaps this will be of assistance in the debate on the services directive but I do not think it will resolve the issue. We must examine this in Ireland. I have seen examples in forestry, horticulture, the meat trade, construction and hotels. Perhaps there are not many cases but they are increasing and all are connected to employment agencies. I have brought this to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen. I am not ruling out the services directive but there is an issue here.

If these operators are based in this country they must comply with certain norms. Large numbers of people working in certain sectors did not find their way to Ireland on their own but were recruited in an organised way, through advertisements by employment agencies and this is where the difficulty lies. Some months have passed since I raised this matter and a number of these issues have been examined over the past six months and are the subject of work within our talks process.

It will not surprise Deputy Rabbitte to hear that both sides of the argument are pressing me on this issue. If one side took the lead earlier, the other side is fast approaching on the other side of the argument. I take a pragmatic view of this and one side must be protected more than the other side.

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