Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 21: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a detailed account of his or his officials' discussions with Commissioner Olli Rehn and his officials on the issue of the reform of joint labour committees and registered employment agreements. [14716/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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1I have had no meeting with Commissioner Olli Rehn, who is the member of the European Commission with responsibility for economic and monetary affairs, since my appointment as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

I did have an opportunity, along with senior officials of my Department, to meet on 12 April with the combined staff teams from the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund who visited Dublin during April 5-15 for the first quarterly review of the government's economic program. On that occasion our discussions ranged over the different elements of the structural reform package to underpin growth that is a feature of the EU/ECB/IMF Programme of Support for the period 2010-13. We discussed the anticipated Jobs Initiative and the prospective completion of the report of the independent review of sectoral wage-setting arrangements. I recall that the visiting delegation also inquired about the new Government's plans to introduce legislative changes to remove restrictions on trade and competition in sheltered sectors, including the legal profession, medical services and the pharmacy profession.

Officials of my Department also participated, together with colleagues from the Department of Finance, in preliminary technical discussions with the staff teams from the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund on 6th April. This was at the outset of the first quarterly review of the Government's economic program in order to assess progress and discuss operational aspects of policy implementation to achieve the objectives set down under the structural reform headings of the EU/ECB/IMF Programme. Following the publication of the Report of the Independent Review of Employment Regulation Orders and Registered Employment Agreement Wage Setting Mechanisms on 24th May last, my officials participated on 7th June, at the invitation of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), in a teleconference together with officials of the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund to consider the outcome of the report and the timetable for consideration of an action plan by the Government following the consultations with social partners and other stakeholders.