Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Yes, we intend to legislate for agency workers through the employment agency regulation Bill. The purpose of the Bill is to regulate the employment agency sector by the establishment of a statutory code of practice, setting out the standards with which it must comply. A monitoring and advisory committee representative of the social partners, employment agency sector and the Department will oversee the adherence to the code. That is the Government's policy.

The Bill was on the A list, as Deputy Gilmore observed. However, following the consultation process, proposals were recently submitted by the Department to finalise draft heads of the Bill based on what arose in the consultation process and the discussions with the Attorney General. These outstanding issues mainly centre around the position of employment agencies having regard to Article 49 of the EU treaty. It will take some work to find out how the legislation can be compatible with the treaty and also with our system of industrial relations. I do not have a date for the legislation because I do not know how long this process will take. It is not the case that it has been put back to the summer or autumn session. It is a priority for the Government to bring forward this legislation.

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