Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

That pertains to the Swedish derogation. Permanent agency workers are permanent with the agency, not with the hirer. As far as I am aware, the Swedish derogation is not used in Ireland, but the idea behind it is that it suits some employees and employers for the former to be paid a retainer when they are not employed. Some employees might see this as an attraction. They are on-call, work certain hours and receive a retention payment. This is an act into which they must freely enter and they must be informed that they are opting out of agreements that otherwise would apply. They must also be permanent; consequently, it cannot be used as a ploy by an agency to take on someone for a period and then terminate the arrangement. I am providing for this arrangement to be available, but protections are built in. For many employers, committing to paying at least the minimum wage during the period the person is not working constitutes a large commitment. This is an unusual arrangement for which I am making provision to allow it to happen. The Department certainly will monitor the position to establish whether such a system is being abused. However, it is a derogation that applies in other member states which offer similar protections to those the Government is offering and one should not stop it from happening in cases in which it suits both sides and they knowingly enter into the arrangement.

To revert to Senator Terry Leyden's points, it is disappointing that there is not a derogation to allow a longer qualifying period. However, I wish to make it clear that the directive is crystal clear in this regard. The Government has no role in introducing amendments to provide for such a qualifying period; it must be negotiated between the social partners.

Senator Walsh stated that there is no social partnership. While there may not be a social partnership agreement at national level, there are still social partners.