John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I was Chairman of the Oireachtas committee that scrutinised EU legislation for two and a half years and it is about not gold-plating directives when transposing them. The Government does not intend to gold-plate any EU directive, and this is the mindset of the Minister, Deputy Bruton.

In the lead-up to the preparation of the Bill and following the consultation phase with key stakeholders, including union and employer representatives and other interested parties, the Minister impressed on all sides the need for a balanced approach which is all about practicality. As the Senator stated in his initial comments, there is a fine line. Implementation of the legislation should help sustain existing jobs and grow employment in the sector.

I am not speaking about job retention and growth at any cost. The transposition of the directive will provide agency workers with new protections and fair and decent conditions, and this is important. It is important that agency work continues to be an attractive prospect for workers who wish to pursue this option as a matter of choice and to help meet the flexible working patterns of firms, including small and medium enterprises, to meet business needs.

The Bill as drafted, with new protections afforded to agency workers through the application of equal treatment in respect of basic working and employment conditions, meets the needs of agency workers and employers alike. It will certainly help the sector to continue to provide job opportunities to meet employers' requirements to deliver services. The overall approach of the EU directive aims to protect temporary agency workers and improve the quality of agency work by ensuring agency workers benefit from equal treatment. A purpose of the directive is to recognise employment agencies as employers with a view to contributing to the retention and creation of jobs and the development of flexible terms. The Bill meets this objective and will provide in its implementation a positive platform for the future development of the agency sector for agency workers, employment agencies and hirers. It will also support job maintenance and retention in the sector.