Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 138: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding transposing the EU Directive on Temporary Agency Workers 2008 into Irish law; the consultation he has had with interested parties on the matter; his views that the legislation will result in job losses here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32424/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The EU Directive on Temporary Agency Workers (2008/14/EC) is due to be transposed into Irish law by 5 December 2011 and my Department is working to meet this deadline. A central aim of the Directive is to ensure protection of temporary agency workers by applying the principle of equal treatment in their basic working and employment conditions.

Government approval for the draft Scheme of a Bill to give effect to the EU Directive in Irish law has recently been obtained and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel is proceeding with urgency to draft the necessary Bill. I expect that the Bill will be published in the next few weeks. The preparation of the draft Scheme of Bill was informed by responses obtained from a range of key stakeholders, including employers and union organisations, the recruitment sector as well as other interested parties, to a public consultation conducted by my Department in October 2010. My Department was engaged also in follow-up discussions with a number of stakeholders following responses to the consultation.

In tandem with the preparation of the necessary legislation to give effect to the Directive, my Department is engaged in discussions with the national social partners, IBEC and ICTU, with the objective of facilitating agreement on the conclusion of a "Framework Agreement" under the terms of a derogation provided under Article 5.4 of the Directive. This would allow, for instance, the application of a "qualifying period" before which the principle of equal treatment would apply to agency workers in Ireland and would place us in a similar situation to that of the UK which has already obtained agreement on a 12-week qualifying period.

The Government is interested in obtaining agreement on this aspect as it would create a balance between the rights of agency workers on the one hand and, the need for labour market flexibility on the other. I am aware that certain stakeholders have pointed to the potential for the Directive to negatively impact on employment however, it is the case that, arising from EU commitments, the Directive must be implemented in all Member States of the EU.

It would be my intention, in bringing forward legislation to meet the State's commitments in this regard, to ensure that while affording the necessary entitlements to agency workers, the Government will also have close regard to the need to retain a necessary level of labour market flexibility to ensure that Ireland continues to provide a pro-business environment in which businesses can grow and develop with a consequent positive knock-on in our ability to retain and grow employment.