Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages includes two key areas: Minimum Wages, and Collective Bargaining. The Directive requires Ireland to develop an action plan to enhance collective bargaining coverage by the end of 2025.

The Final Report of the expert group on the transposition of the Directive, released in November, will be helpful in guiding how Ireland should transpose the Directive.

To this end, a technical working group has been established with the social partners to progress Ireland’s implementation of the Directive in relation to collective bargaining and the development of the action plan. The first meeting of the working group has already taken place and a second meeting will take place shortly.

I understand that my Department, through Ireland's Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels, is engaging with other Member States to share best practice with regard to the development of the action plans.

The development of policy in this area must also be mindful of the fact that Ireland has one of the highest minimum rates of pay in the EU with the Government objective to phase in a statutory living wage by January 2026, which will be set at 60% of the hourly median wage.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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324. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to outline the situation with respect to the transposition into Irish law of EU Directive 2019/1152 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11949/24]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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EU Directive 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions in the European Union has been transposed. The European Union (Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No 686 of 2022) became law on 16 December 2022.

Ireland pre-empted many provisions of the Directive through the enactment of the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 (No. 38 of 2018). The 2018 Act had already introduced anti-penalisation provisions, stronger penalties for non-compliance, restriction of zero hours contracts and the provision of more precise information on hours of work and other core terms of employment to employees at an earlier stage in the employment relationship.