Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

The consolidated EU directive on working time, which has been transposed into domestic legislation, represents a key instrument on working hours. In that respect, it is a very important achievement which has established standards in the areas of health and safety for workers. These core standards embody periods of daily and weekly rest, breaks, annual leave, maximum weekly working time, night work, shift work and patterns of work.

Since 2005, the European Union has considered and discussed a review of this key legislation. The European Commission began this process with a draft set of proposals, to which the European Parliament proposed amendments during its first reading. Subsequently, the European Commission's amended proposals, which had regard to the outcome of the first reading by the European Parliament, were the subject of detailed consideration at the European Council.

Agreement was reached in June 2008 on this long-standing sensitive legislative instrument under the Slovenian Presidency, when Ministers agreed by majority vote a common position on the proposed amended working time directive. The agreement reached on 9 June provides for transposition of the amending working time directive into national legislation within three years of its adoption. The common position agreed in June on this long-standing draft reflects a delicate and balanced compromise, reached after consideration at the European Council under more than six EU Presidencies.

With regard to the individual opt-out for workers working more than the average 48 hours per week, the amending directive provides for new built-in safeguards and limitations, stricter reference periods and review and evaluation clauses. These will act as further constraints against working unlimited and irregular working hours, which are to the detriment of the heath and safety of workers concerned. Under the amended proposal, a distinction is made between active and inactive periods of on-call time at the work place. The common position makes no change to active on-call time, but would allow inactive periods to be treated either as working time or rest time, according to national law or collective agreement.

The proposed amending directive is gender neutral, applying in equal measure to men and women. In its transposition of the original EU directive, Ireland did not avail of the opt-out nor have we any plans to do so. The outcome of the political agreement reached at the European Council represents a delicate balance aimed at achieving a compromise solution to this outstanding sensitive dossier. The Government has no reason to believe that the revised directive represents a negative outcome that poses a matter of particular concern to the position of women in the work force. We must now await the outcome of the second reading in the European Parliament, as outlined under the co-decision procedure.

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