Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

That is fine. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important Bill.

The EU directive on temporary agency workers, which was adopted almost four years ago, has as its objective the protection of such workers. It is important to note that they represent 2% of the workforce in our country, some 35,000 workers, which, by any definition, is a significant number of people. It is correct to say they have not been properly organised due to the large number, up to 400, of different employment agencies in the country. This legislation goes a long way, therefore, towards assisting a group that, to date, has not had the potential or the opportunity to organise. In effect, this legislation will apply the same basic working and employment conditions to temporary and agency workers as apply to other employees in the same businesses.

The transposition date of 5 December for the directive means that the new rules will apply since that date, assuming the enactment of the Bill we are debating today. As defined in section 2, the basic working and employment conditions cover the areas of pay, duration of working time, rest periods and breaks, night work, annual leave and public holidays. It is an extensive and exhaustive list of categories. The people concerned will find they are now on the same terms and conditions as other employees.

In addition to covering those aspects, the Bill is in line with the European directive requirements. It includes other working and employment conditions to which agency workers will have an entitlement, in the same way as if they were directly recruited by a hirer. These include basic pay, shift premium, piece rates, overtime premiums and an unsocial hours premium. It also includes a Sunday premium where a Sunday is worked and a premium is normally paid to agency workers - in other words, not by exception.

There has been some discussion. Sometimes it seems a Minister may have achieved his objective when there is criticism from both unions and employers. In this instance, the social partnership model has not managed to achieve agreement. That model has served us in a mixed fashion throughout the country. There was a time when social partnership allowed for a national spirit of togetherness and an acceptance of where we are as a people. If social partnership is to continue, not only in a meaningful fashion but at all, there must be a broader acceptance on both sides that if they take trenchant and polarised views they will effectively be marginalised.

When John Bruton was Taoiseach I had the pleasure of serving on the National Economic and Social Council, which at the time was involved in the PESP, PCWs and other competitive agreements. The initial period of social partnership served the country exceptionally well but partnership evolved into a group of people who came to know each other quite well, perhaps personally as well. Put simply, the objective in later years of the partnership meetings was that everybody could walk out of the room with something in their pockets. The reality now is that we are living in completely different times. Everybody involved in partnership should perhaps return to the original concept, namely, that everybody may have to take a little bit out of their pockets to allow something to remain there. There is a great future for partnership when both groups can come together. I compliment the Minister of State on having the decisiveness to drive ahead with this important legislation.

There has been much comment about our competitiveness, with some sections suggesting that it may be undermined by this legislation. There are important points to address in that regard. In the first instance, most of our trade and our competition takes place with our European partners who are bound by the very same legislation. Therefore, the argument on competitiveness does not really apply with respect to our dealings with the intra-EU sector. It is also important to note there have been very significant and rapid reductions in the cost of doing business in this country, and in comparison with our European partners. We often talk about countries such as Britain, or others in Europe and the rest of the world in terms of their potential to buy our goods and products but they are also competing with us in how we export within other countries and into the broader world. In the past 12 to 14 months we have seen our competitiveness and the cost of doing business in our country rapidly decline. There can be a simplistic "Workers of the world, unite", or socialist-Communist view of how the world of economics might apply, in a fairytale world.

The reality is that only having 1% of the European population means Ireland is bound to remain as competitive as it possibly can to continue to attract foreign direct investment. It is a ridiculous argument to suggest, as Deputy Nulty did, that the continued reduction in the cost of doing business in Europe is not the reason we are losing competitiveness to BRIC countries. It must be remembered 30 years ago one quarter of the world's gross domestic product came from Europe with slightly more than a quarter coming from the United States. That meant half of the engine of the world's economy came from the two main trading blocs. Europe is now down to 20% of world gross domestic product as the BRIC and other countries grow. Europe's percentage of the world's economy is continuing to contract, which is one reason Europe has seen a net deterioration in its balance of payments. It also puts Europe in a difficult position when it comes to the amounts of money flowing into and out of its economy. It is important to note, however, that Europe is in a better position than the United States.

It is crucial this legislation acknowledges the importance of finding people who move from temporary and agency employment into full-time employment. This Bill does not seek to undermine that progression. It is another important step brought by the Government in reducing red tape in industry and business. The House's previous business, the Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill 2011, will reduce the amount of red tape in the agricultural sector. I encourage the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, to continue to reduce the amount of red tape in our business and agricultural sectors as they are another cost businesses have to bear.

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