Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 647: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on the findings by the European Court of Justice in the Laval case; and the implications the findings may have for the Irish labour force. [1736/08]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The European Court of Justice issued a Judgement on 18 December 2007 in a case between Laval un Partneri Ltd and Svenska Byggnadsarbetareförbundets and others.

The Swedish Labour Court referred the case to the European Court of Justice to determine whether it is permissible under European law for trade unions to take industrial action, in the form of a blockade, to compel a foreign temporary provider of services to sign a collective agreement in the host country where the law of the host country implementing the Posted Workers Directive does not provide for the application of terms and conditions in collective agreements.

In its judgement, the European Court of Justice held that, in the particular circumstances obtaining in the Swedish context, action in the form of a blockade of sites constitutes a restriction on the freedom to provide services, which, in this case, was not justified with regard to the public interest of protecting workers.

In reaching its judgement, the Court did point out that the Community has not only an economic but also a social purpose and thus the Treaty provisions on free movement of goods and services must be balanced against the objectives pursued by social policy. In this context, the Court found that the right to take collective action for the protection of workers may constitute an overriding reason of public interest which, in principle, justifies a restriction of one of the fundamental freedoms. The judgement, which issued relatively recently, is complex and is currently still being considered. It appears that the judgement is quite case-specific and hinges, inter alia, on the way in which Sweden has transposed the Posting of Workers Directive into national law. Unlike Ireland, Sweden has no national minimum wage arrangements. While the implications of the Laval Judgement are being examined, my Department's initial view is that our differing methods of employment protection, including Registered Employment Agreements and Employment Regulation Orders, and the effective manner in which Ireland has implemented the Posted Workers Directive suggest that the judgement is unlikely to have any detrimental impact on Irish workers.