John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 132: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans for increasing the number of labour inspectors and improving the scope and effectiveness of such inspections that are carried out. [4128/06]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 182: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will increase the labour inspectorate to 75 inspectors to ensure the enforcement of existing employment law. [4113/06]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 132 and 182 together.

The assignment of additional labour inspectors was completed in November 2005 bringing the complement of serving inspectors to 31 officers. That represents almost a doubling of the number of labour inspectors in the past 18 months. In the past week one officer has commenced a career-break and a replacement officer will take up assignment next week.

The enforcement of employment rights is too often characterised as a discrete function undertaken solely by the labour inspectorate. The reality is that there is a very formidable corpus of legislation that provides for a range of obligations and entitlements for both employers and employees. The employment rights arena is populated by various bodies, for example, the Labour Court, the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Rights Commissioner Service to name just a few, each charged with the task of administering that volume of employment law. As always there is scope for improvement but it is no solution to just simply appoint even more labour inspectors.

The challenge in a rapidly growing economy is to ensure that there is adequate, timely and effective enforcement of compliance with the statutory and other provisions now in place. This was recognised in Sustaining Progress and, arising from commitments in it, the Government has completed reviews of: the employment rights bodies; the mandate and resourcing of the labour inspectorate; and the joint labour committee system. Each of these reviews has been completed and follow-on work is now in train.

With regard to the inspectorate, in early 2005 the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment circulated a discussion document on the mandate and resourcing of the labour inspectorate to the social partners. That document has been the basis for further consideration by the employment rights compliance group, ERCG, since September 2005. The ERCG, which is made up of representatives of the social partners, including the CIF and SIPTU, together with the Departments of the Taoiseach, Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Finance, is now finalising its work in this regard. The outcome of those discussions will inform debate in the context of a new social partnership agreement.

While the work of the ERCG is not entirely complete it can be indicated that among the key features emerging are options with regard to: a streamlining of access to redress through the existing employment rights bodies thus enabling individuals with the information and facility to more easily vindicate their employment rights and entitlements; a re-orientation of employment rights compliance procedures away from the civil courts; greater emphasis on proper record keeping together with increased transparency regarding pay and the associated information provided to employees on payslips; organisational improvements in the service provided by the employment rights compliance section of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment — including the labour inspectorate and including a regionalised structure; and major investment in education and information dissemination on employment rights obligations and entitlements for both employers and employees.

Much has been agreed during the course of the ERCG discussions. Final comments from the social partners will be reflected in the finished report and the remaining issues relating to a more effective compliance model and the related organisational aspects — which may embrace a further strengthening of the labour inspectorate — have been clearly signalled as being matters for consideration in the forthcoming social partnership discussions.

The Government is not about reducing the high employment standards that we have attained, rather, it is fully committed to working with the social partners to not only maintain, but build upon and improve the situation of those at work, and, in the context of social partnership, has every confidence that agreement will be reached on all outstanding matters to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.