Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

Section 1 currently provides that, with the exception of the provisions relating to offences or the instigation of legal proceedings, the Bill will be deemed to have come into effect on 5 December 2011. During the passage of the Bill through the Oireachtas, this provision, which gives retrospective cover from 5 December 2011, has been the source of discussion and a level of criticism. I have, therefore, reconsidered the position in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General and have come up with an amendment, the effect of which will be to limit the application of the retrospective cover, as it impacts on the basic working and employment conditions applied by the directive, to the element of pay only. In the context of the other non-pay elements covered by the basic working and employment conditions set down in the directive - for example, working time rest breaks, access to collective facilities, access to job vacancies, etc. - I am advised that, in practice, enforcement of these on a retrospective basis would be almost impossible as they cannot be undone after the event.

Amendment No. 1 should go some way towards meeting the concerns previously expressed in respect of this provision. Subsection (2) of the amendment applies the general provisions of the Bill on a retrospective basis, while subsection (4) provides that the offence provisions will not come into effect until the day following the passage of the legislation. All of the other provisions will come into effect upon passage of the Bill into law. I hope this measure, which balances the need for the Government to meet its obligations under the directive, will meet, to a greater extent than previously, the concerns expressed about this provision. Acceptance of the amendment will ensure that agency workers will be entitled to equal pay from the transposition date of the directive and will have this entitlement backdated to 5 December 2011. They will not, however, be able to claim entitlements from that date in respect of breaks, working time collective facilities, etc.