Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

The "Prime Time Investigates" programme highlighted two issues — exploitation in the context of pay and conditions and breaches of the Road Traffic Acts. The national minimum wage regulates payment in the transport sector because there are no collective agreements, joint industrial councils or joint labour committees in the sector and, therefore, NERA is focused on that. I do not instruct the authority on what it should do but officials carry out risk assessments and profiles of industries, engage in targeted campaigns in several ways, including education and promotion and informing employers of their obligations and employees of their entitlements and rights and they undertake targeted inspections in particular areas, as outlined in reply to previous parliamentary questions.

The Employment Law Compliance Bill is still under discussion with stakeholders. While it was published in March 2008, further discussions have taken place. Stakeholders had concerns in the context of the transitional agreement under Towards 2016 and we are trying to accommodate everybody so that we can achieve as much consensus as possible. The Bill will be introduced in the House early in the new session. I am sure there will be a lively debate on it and there will be a great deal of support among parties for it.

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