Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to answer Questions Nos. 10 and 27 together.

I presume the Deputies are referring to the Industrial Relations Act 1946. Under the provisions of that Act, employer and worker representatives voluntarily enter into collective bargaining negotiations with a view to concluding an employment regulation order or registered employment agreement. The State is not party to such negotiations and, accordingly, I have no plans to amend the Industrial Relations Act as proposed by the Deputies.

Minimum rates of pay and other conditions of employment for workers in certain sectors are set down in employment regulation orders, EROs, made by the Labour Court. These orders are legally binding and are determined on the basis of proposals drawn up by the employer and employee representatives on the relevant joint labour committees, JLCs. The latter are independent bodies and are composed of equal numbers of representatives of employers and workers in a particular sector, with an independent chairman.

An employment agreement is an agreement made either between a trade union and an employer or employer organisation or at a meeting of a registered joint industrial council, which relates to the pay or conditions of employment of any class, type or group of workers. Employment agreements may be presented to the Labour Court for registration. Where the Labour Court is satisfied that an agreement presented satisfies the statutory requirements, it will register that agreement. The effect of this is to make the provisions of the agreement legally enforceable in respect of every worker of the class, type or group to which it is expressed to apply and to his or her employer, even if such workers or employers are not party to the agreement.

In the context of our voluntarist approach to collective bargaining, JLCs covering certain sectors, including the catering and hotel sectors, have agreed terms and conditions, which include the payment of premia for Sunday work, to apply to the workers covered by their respective remits. These terms make no provision for an inability to pay clause because they are essentially agreements on the going rate for the job reached by employers and workers themselves. It is not a Government imposed rate.

I am aware of concerns that have been raised by some employers regarding the impact of Sunday premia payments. Deputies on all sides have raised this matter with me on numerous occasions. I am conscious of the pressures on and concerns of employers and employees in the hotel and catering sectors. Any adjustment or variation in the rates applying to Sunday work in these sectors or any provisions that would allow for an inability to pay plea by an employer remain matters for agreement by the parties represented on the JLCs or those who are party to an REA, as appropriate.

The operation of the joint labour committee system was recently considered by the social partners in the course of their negotiation of the Towards 2016 review and transitional agreement. We have initiated the process to amalgamate the two joint labour committees in the catering sector. Advertisements relating to this matter were placed in national newspapers in the past week.

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