Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of domestic legislation to protect the rights of agency workers. [31095/07]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 80: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason pay parity for agency workers from commencement of employment is outside the scope of the current partnership agreement; and his views on whether agency workers do not deserve the same pay and conditions as their directly employed co-workers doing the same job. [31096/07]

Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 84: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the meaning of his statement that Ireland will continue to adopt a constructive role in discussions on the stalled EU Directive on Temporary Agency Workers; and if he plans to press ahead with domestic legislation on the issue of agency workers. [31094/07]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 85: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will support the trade union movement's campaign to give agency workers equal rights. [31092/07]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when he will bring proposals to Government providing for the regulation of employment agencies, in order to ensure equality of treatment for agency workers; his views on whether this is an urgent matter as Ireland is one of only four EU countries which has failed to provide legislation for equal treatment of such workers in terms of pay, conditions and employment status; when the legislation will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31132/07]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 87: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the serious concern expressed by SIPTU, at the growing use of labour agencies by employers as a substitute for directly recruiting staff; the steps he is taking to put procedures in place to ensure that such workers receive the full protection of labour law and are not subject to exploitation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31130/07]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 112: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the fact that up to 200 of those who lost their jobs in the Seagate plant in October 2007 were agency workers and that they are being told they have no redundancy rights; if his further attention has been drawn to the growing number of agency workers here who face the same predicament; and the way he proposes to deal with the issue. [31093/07]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 78, 80, 84 to 87, inclusive, and 112 together.

As part of the Government's commitment under the partnership agreement — Towards 2016 — I am currently considering the final elements of proposals for the draft Scheme of a Bill to regulate the employment agency sector. I intend to submit a Memorandum to Government very shortly seeking approval to have the Bill drafted by the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government.

The Bill as drafted will reflect the commitment, in Towards 2016, to a licensing system where, to be licensed, employment agencies will be required to comply with the terms of a Statutory Code of Practice which will set out the practices and standards which employment agencies would be expected to follow. A Monitoring and Advisory Committee will advise me on the Code of Practice and on other matters related to this sector of our economy. This Committee will include representatives of the Social Partners and of the Agency sector. Other elements in the Bill are aimed at further strengthening and enhancing the effective enforcement of the employment rights of agency workers.

In the course of consultations on the proposed Bill some parties have raised matters not included in the current partnership agreement, including pay parity from the commencement of employment. This demand is outside the scope of measures agreed in Towards 2016 and, in any case, does not have due regard to the arrangements in other Member States.

My Department has engaged with ICTU regarding assertions that agency workers are being used increasingly to undermine basic labour standards and are precipitating a so-called "drive to the bottom". However, the Department has not been supplied with specific evidence supporting this thesis and the argument to date has hinged on anecdotal evidence. We would be interested in seeing any hard evidence in this area.

I am aware of suggestions that Ireland is one of only three EU Member States which has failed to legislate for equal treatment for agency workers in terms of pay and conditions of employment. However practice in relation to agency working in other EU Member States is not always what it might appear at first glance. The situation is far more complex than that portrayed. Thus, for example, in Member States where legislation is complemented by collective agreements, deviation from the equal wage clause in legislation may be permitted. There is also wide variation in the nature and extent of wider employment rights and working conditions attained by agency workers in collective agreements such as, in the case of statutory sick pay and pension rights. In addition, in some Member States various restrictions and prohibitions are in place in which agency working is excluded from whole sectors of economic activity.

In the context of the European Union negotiations on the proposed EU Directive on Temporary Agency Work, Ireland will continue to adopt a constructive approach in these discussions. However, Ireland considers that the proposal for consideration, as currently drafted, is somewhat imbalanced. We have concerns about exemptions, or derogations, which would be to the benefit or advantage of some Member States and not others. In this regard, Ireland has, with other Member States, indicated that if permanent derogations through collective agreements are to be allowed then other means providing for derogations should also be allowed in those Member States without collective agreements.

Thus, Ireland considers that the derogation from equal treatment provided for in Article 5.4 of the proposed Directive, in respect of short-duration temporary agency assignments of a maximum of six weeks, is far too short. This is particularly so in comparison to the derogation available to those Member States, with collective agreements which can and do deviate from equal treatment in pay levels and in the areas of wider working and employment conditions, under the terms of Article 5.3 of the proposed Directive. In some cases these derogations can be for six months, or longer.

A longer time period than that currently on offer in respect of short-duration assignments — than the maximum six weeks now being proposed under Article 5.4 — would represent a more balanced approach. The shorter time period currently on offer could damage future job creation prospects and could deter the use of temporary agency working which would be to the detriment of our economy. This is particularly the case as agency work can provide, in certain circumstances, a useful stepping- stone for some persons to enter the labour market. The opportunities available to agency workers should not be reduced as a result of any new arrangements. Overall, the longer period being sought would provide the best balance between employment creation and flexibility, on the one hand, with employment protection and security on the other.

Ireland will continue to adopt a constructive approach to these discussions. In principle we support the thrust of the Directive but we are still participants in a wider negotiation on the details.

In Ireland, agency workers, as with other employees, who comply with the requirements of the Redundancy Acts 1967 to 2007, attain rights following a continuous period of service of two years. In the case of redundancies of agency workers in Seagate, in Derry, in October 2007, the company in question is outside the State and matters in that regard fall to be considered by legislation that applies in a separate jurisdiction.

Finally, despite frequent assertions to the contrary, Ireland's comprehensive body of employment rights legislation provides that employee protection applies to migrant workers in Ireland and also to agency and posted workers who have entered into a contract of employment that provides for him or her being employed in the State or who works in the State under a contract of employment. Enforcement is through the Labour Inspectorate, or, before dispute resolution bodies such as the Rights Commissioner Service, Labour Court and Employment Appeals Tribunal. I urge anyone who has evidence of the mistreatment of agency workers to furnish all the relevant details and any related materials to the Inspectorate with a view to pursuing the matter.