Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Labour)

I warmly welcome this Bill, the purpose of which is to ensure fairness across the economy. The notion that temporary agency workers spend a brief time in their place of employment runs contrary to my own experience. In all sectors of the economy, agency workers are used indefinitely in the workplace. They often work shoulder to shoulder with comparable and like workers but they earn significantly less money per hour. An agency worker is a person who has an agreement to work in a workplace but, most likely, is working for less money than a comparable permanent worker in the same place of employment.

It is significant that this Government is associated with fairness. It is a downright disgrace that a directive has been in existence since 2008. It was digested by the previous Administration for nearly three years while agency workers were being treated unfairly in all sectors of the economy in terms of their right to equal pay and conditions compared with other workers.

The European Union has experienced a dramatic increase in the participation of agency workers in the workplace. Even in bad times in 2010 there was an 8% increase in the employment of agency workers in the European Union economies. This has provided an opportunity for some people to continue to treat people unfairly. In this country, part-time workers and fixed-time workers have the protection of legislation. I ask why agency workers are used as an opportunity to pay less and to avoid liability under existing legislation. A fixed-term or fixed-purpose term worker will know his or her terms and conditions, and the same applies to those on temporary contracts, but an agency worker is sent from one place to another. I am delighted at the stance of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions which is to fight for its members to ensure that for the purpose of the domestic economy, people will earn a fair wage.

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