Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this extremely important matter. I welcome the presence of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton.

I am troubled and deeply concerned that the EU agency workers directive is due to enter into Irish law on Monday, 5 December. I am disappointed by the lack of debate in the House and media on the potential impact of the directive. As the Minister will be aware, the directive gives all agency workers the same benefits as direct employees from the first day of employment. Businesses do not have much information on what implementation will mean for them. How will the term "benefits" be defined? Do benefits include sick pay and holiday pay? The lack of clarity on such matters will have a considerable impact on businesses.

Before the directive was implemented in Britain and Northern Ireland on 1 October a 12 week qualifying period or derogation was agreed between employers and trade unions. A consultation period of six months also preceded implementation in the UK and the legislation was amended during this period. An extension to the 5 December deadline is required to provide sufficient time of the detail of the legislation to be worked out. We also need a derogation, which the European Union will provide if it is agreed by the social partners. I understand that while some discussions have taken place among the social partners, the trade unions are reluctant to agree a derogation. It is crucial that we obtain a derogation if we are to secure employment and investment.

Agency staff form a key part of multinationals' employment model. It is estimated that approximately 35,000 agency workers are employed in this country. Their use provides a degree of flexibility for struggling businesses which cannot commit to recruiting full-time employees or provide seasonal work. In County Kildare, for instance, we have a successful indigenous food company whose work is extremely seasonal. Although it has little work available in April, May and June, in recent years it has secured large contracts in July and August and hired 180 temporary agency staff to fulfil them. The company provides good employment while the agency looks after staff well and pays a rate that is above the minimum wage. This degree of employment flexibility suits many staff. The head of the company in question informed me the directive will cost him money and result in the company losing export contracts. The potential impact of the directive is extremely serious. The State is one of the largest employers of agency staff. The potential impact of the directive on the Health Service Executive is staggering, with the estimated cost to the HSE, if the directive is implemented in its current form, in excess of €30 million.

What progress has been made in discussions between the social partners on achieving a derogation? I urge the Minister to do everything in his power to ensure agreement is reached on a derogation before the legislation is implemented. We must seek an extension of the 5 December deadline to give us more time.

While no one in the House is in favour of the exploitation of workers, the simple question is whether the directive will enhance or disimprove Irish employment figures. On a day when we learned the unemployment rate has increased, I note that no one, including trade union representatives, has argued that the directive will improve job numbers or competitiveness. I look forward to the Minister's response and urge him to engage with the trade unions and apply the greatest possible pressure to agree a derogation.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Deputy Heydon for raising this issue. As he will be aware, the EU directive on temporary agency work is due to be transposed into Irish law by 5 December 2011. A central aim of the directive is to ensure protection of temporary agency workers by applying the principle of equal treatment in their basic working and employment conditions. My Department initiated a public consultation on the national transposition of the directive in October 2010. Observations were provided by a number of key stakeholders and other interested parties. These views were complemented by follow-up consultations and bilateral meetings to elaborate further on the position of the interested parties, which help fully inform the preparation and development of the draft legislation. Government approval for the draft scheme of the Bill to give effect to the EU directive in Irish law was obtained in October. The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is proceeding with urgency with the drafting of the Bill. It is my intention that the Bill will be published as soon as possible in December 2011. Certain discretions and derogations are available to member states under the directive. A key feature of the directive is that it provides for the possibility of the social partners at national level concluding an agreement that would allow for some variation in the application of the equal treatment principle, while respecting the necessary protections to be afforded to agency workers under the terms of the directive. This is intended to highlight the role of the social partners so that rules can be tailored as closely as possible to the interests and needs of the parties concerned.

In tandem with the preparation of the necessary legislation to give effect to the directive, my Department has been engaged in discussions with IBEC and ICTU, with the objective of facilitating agreement on the conclusion of a framework agreement under the terms of a derogation provided under Article 5.4 of the directive. This would allow for a qualifying period before the principle of equal treatment would apply to agency workers in Ireland. It would place us in a similar position to the UK and Northern Ireland, which have already obtained agreement on a 12-week qualifying period. In the absence of a framework agreement, the default position is that equal treatment will apply from the first day of the assignment of the agency worker to the hirer undertaking. I have facilitated discussions with the national social partners with the objective of concluding a framework agreement that would allow for a qualifying period. Officials in my Department have been engaged in a process of teasing out the prospects for securing agreement. No agreement on this issue has been reached to date.

In light of the imminence of the date on which the directive is due to be transposed, there are considerable time pressures to conclude these discussions. The Government, as a significant employer, has a substantial interest in ensuring that a qualifying period is put in place before equal treatment comes into play for temporary agency workers. Agency workers represent a significant and important part of the workforce in the health sector, for instance. In the context of the current moratorium on direct recruitment, the HSE is able to use agency workers in a flexible manner to respond to staff shortages. In the current challenging economic circumstances, every effort must be made by all parties to boost the means by which economic recovery can be achieved and employment can be maintained and grown. A derogation allowing for a waiting period would allow for the necessary leeway in terms of labour market flexibility. It would ensure the labour market conditions in this jurisdiction are in line with those in Northern Ireland and the UK.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister for his response. I feel extremely passionately about this issue. I have been pursuing it for a number of months. I wrote to the unions but the responses I received were quite alarming. When David Begg of ICTU responded to me, he said he had been told by representatives of the TUC in the UK that this measure has had no employment implications there. It should be mentioned that there have been no employment implications there to date because the UK is still within its derogation period. This will come to a head when the 12-week period, which began on 1 October, has expired. The president of SIPTU, Jack O'Connor, said in response to my correspondence that agency contracts facilitate exploitation and misery. I do not know what world Jack O'Connor is living in. I think he is living in a different country from me.

Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

He is lives in the Deputy's own county of Kildare.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

His reference to exploitation and misery is a bit extreme for me. The unions have claimed that my concerns are misplaced. I do not think their statements can be backed up. The simple fact is they are playing Russian roulette with the agency workers directive in order to push their own agenda. They are raising issues like collective bargaining and joint labour committees to argue a point as part of another fight. The directive is too important to be messing with. The unions are being absolutely reckless on this matter. They need to face up to the implications of this directive if a derogation is not agreed. One of those implications is that it will be more expensive to do business in this country. It will increase the expense incurred by the State and it will have a direct impact on jobs. There is a responsibility on the unions. I call on them to be responsible and to agree a derogation that is at least in line with what has been done in the UK. That is needed for the good of the country.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

What is unique about this directive is that responsibility for concluding an agreement rests with the social partners, rather than with the Government. The two sides need to come together and reach an agreement. It would be better for us to have a waiting period like that in the UK and Northern Ireland. It would allow us to protect employment at a difficult time. I urge the social partners to consider carefully the adverse implications of any failure for each agreement. It would be appropriate if we could conclude an agreement like that in the UK and Northern Ireland. I will have further discussions with the social partners after this debate concludes, in the hope that some agreement can be reached.