Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I will begin where Deputy Buttimer concluded. There are three cases - possibly a fourth by tomorrow morning - of companies trampling over workers' rights, namely, Vita Cortex, La Senza and Lagan Brick. Given that many businesses are under considerable pressure and the majority are run by decent, ordinary people trying to make a living, the three cases outlined do the business sector no service. The workers should be shown respect and fairness. Forcing people to occupy their workplaces to get their entitlements is a bad sign for business.

I welcome the chance to discuss this directive and its implementation. The officials in attendance have spent many years and done a considerable amount of work on the issue. It has been a frustrating subject. In the absence of a derogation we now have something that, when combined with other Government decisions in recent weeks, will contribute to an erosion of competitiveness and may cause job losses.

We agree with the directive's central aim, that is, to give temporary workers protection, as there are many cases across the EU of temporary workers being abused for the want of this protection. However, the way in which we have come to the directive without a derogation will set back everyone's shared aim of job creation. That the Minister acknowledged this in his speech was extraordinary. He stated: "Rather, the measure raises issues of a competitiveness nature in that the absence of agreement on a qualifying period, unfortunately, puts Ireland in a less favourable position in terms of labour market flexibility than that of our closest neighbour, the United Kingdom." I praise the Minister for his admission.

It is even more extraordinary that ICTU, an all-island body, could agree to the derogation in the North but not in the South. I presume that IBEC is also partly to blame. The inability to reach an agreement has damaged our economy's competitiveness.

Temporary workers can be found in all sectors, not just the low paid sectors with which many people automatically identify them. They are used on contract bases in many leading multinationals. They perform specific tasks and deliver specific products before moving on to other contracts. This is how they work.

The 2% increase in the VAT rate will affect every aspect of business. We have also tackled the redundancy side of the issue by lowering the rebate from 60% to 30%. Adding this directive to the equation sends a wrong signal to employment creators despite the Government's rhetoric about job creation being its No. 1 priority.

I appeal to everyone involved to take the chance presented by this debate. Given the condition of the Irish and European economies, will the Minister try to knock some heads together?

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