Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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747. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures taken by his Department to enhance employees’ and workers’ rights since 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21217/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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This Government is fully committed to supporting workers. Legislation in this area is kept under active review to reflect national and international developments, including at European Union, Court of Justice, and International Labour Organisation level.

Measures taken since 2020 include the following:

• The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025 was published on 1 April 2025 and successfully completed Second Stage in the Dáil on Tuesday 8 April 2025. The Bill, once enacted, will deliver a new employment right allowing, but in no way compelling, an employee to stay in employment until the State Pension Age of 66.
• The Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024 comes into effect on 1 August 2025 to reflect higher rates of pay for craft and general constructions workers. Pay will increase by 3.4% in August 2025 and again by 3.2% in August 2026.
• The National Minimum Wage increased to €13.50 per hour on 1st January 2025, an increase of over 6% which is ahead of projected wage growth across the economy. Between 2020 and 2025, the minimum wage has increased from €10.10 to €13.50, representing a nominal increase of 33.7%. The Low Pay Commission has estimated that the “bite” of the minimum wage, or the National Minimum Wage as a percentage of the median wage, has increased from 50.12% in 2022 to 55.49% in 2024 using the CSO’s Labour Force Survey data, or from 53.57% in 2022 to 59.47% in 2024 using the CSO’s Structure of Earnings Statistics data. The substantial increases in the National Minimum Wage over the last few years show Government’s continuing commitment to fair wages for the lowest paid workers in our economy, but it is also important to acknowledge the challenges the enterprise sector has faced over the last number of years.
• The European Communities (Organisation of Working Time) (Defence Forces) Regulations 2025 were signed into law on 20 January 2025. The Regulations provide that the statutory protection of the Organisation of Working Time Act is now applied to members of the Defence Forces.
• Ireland will develop an Action Plan to promote collective bargaining which, under the EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages, must be submitted to the European Commission by November 2025. This commitment is included in the Programme for Government. My Department has launched a Public Consultation to gather views on the content of Ireland’s Action Plan, the closing date is 12 May 2025.
• A public consultation on the proposal to extend the late working hours exemption for young persons to unlicensed premises under the Provisions of Section 8 of the Protection of Young Persons Employment Act 1996 has also been opened and will close on 8 May 2025.
• The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 was commenced on 1 July 2024 and provided for the establishment of the Employment Law Review Group. The inaugural plenary of the ELRG was held on 4 March 2025.
• The 2024 Act also amended the Protection of Employment Act 1977 to further enhance the protection of employees facing collective redundancies caused by their employer’s insolvency.
• The introduction of statutory sick leave in January 2023 marked a key policy development for Ireland. For the first time, employees have a statutory right to employer-paid sick leave. From 1 January 2024, the number of statutory sick leave days increased from three to five.
• In 2023, a new permanent public holiday established in celebration of Imbolc/St. Brigid’s day was introduced.
• In April 2023, the Government enacted the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act. This provides all employees the right to request a remote working arrangement. This right has been in operation since 6 March 2024, alongside a Code of Practice.
• The European Union (Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions) Regulations came into effect in December 2022. These regulations ensure that employees are given more detailed information about important aspects of their jobs.
• The Payment of Wages (Tips and Gratuities) Act 2022 obliges employers to distribute tips fairly and to prominently display their tip distribution policy. The Act provides a more secure financial foundation for workers in the hospitality and service industry.
• The Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Act 2022 introduced the Covid-19 Related Lay-off Payment Scheme, which has been in operation since April 2022. The scheme ensures that employees made redundant up to 31 January 2025, who are eligible for a statutory redundancy payment, and who were placed on temporary lay-off due to Covid-19 public health restrictions are not disadvantaged in the calculation of their redundancy entitlements.
• The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) continues to play a critical role in promoting, supporting, and enforcing occupational health and safety standards across all sectors, and supporting the work of the HSA is a priority for the Government. The State’s investment in the HSA is an investment in saving lives, preventing injuries, reducing long-term illness, and easing the social and economic costs associated with workplace harm. The Government’s commitment can clearly be seen in the growth of the HSA over the last five years from approximately 190 staff in 2020 to now having a sanctioned workforce of over 330.
• In terms of employment permits, in March 2025, changes to the employment permits system to address skills shortages in Ireland’s Planning and Home Care sectors were announced. An extension of 1000 General Employment Permits to the current quota for the role of care workers and carers in the home was approved. The role of town planning officer was also made eligible for a critical skills permit. In April 2025 three quotas for the transport sector were also extended in order to address skills shortages for car mechanics, HGV/Bus mechanics and vehicle repairers.
• The Employment Permits Act 2024 introduced significant reform of the employment permits legislation bringing many positive changes to Ireland’s economic migration policy and terms and conditions for workers. Measures to improve worker rights and employment conditions in the new legislation include a more flexible approach for workers to access promotion or to change employer for more favourable employment opportunities.
• I have also recently introduced a pilot scheme to test the new Seasonal Employment Permit, which requires the provision of certain conditions such as accommodation and health insurance be provided to the seasonal worker before the permit can be granted.
• This builds on developments in employment permits since 2020 to provide greater access to employment in roles not previously eligible, and to make the employment permits system more accessible for a broad range of workers including those in health, construction and transport. Comprehensive changes to the employment permits system were introduced in 2023 with 43 changes to the jobs eligible for an employment permit, representing the largest expansion of the system to date.
• The Minimum Annual Remuneration, the minimum salary for which an employment permit can be issued, was increased in January 2024, for most permittypes. This measure was implemented in order to ensure that the employment permit system continued to support a dynamic labour market in the State and also ensure it has no depressionary effect on improvements to pay, conditions or innovation in the State. Additionally, these changes ensure workers from third countries are in a position to build decent lives for themselves and their families while bringing much needed skills to the Irish economy. In accordance with the Employment Permits Act 2024, minimum annual remuneration must now be adjusted annually in line with increases to average earnings in the state, to ensure the employment permit system continues to support these conditions into the future.
• Finally, we continue to provide active support to the State's industrial relations organisations, including the WRC and the Labour Court, and I was delighted to announce the appointment of Louise O'Donnell as Chair of the Labour Court last week. She can be assured of every support from my Department. In terms of the WRC, a pay increase for external adjudicators has just been agreed and other changes to support the important work the WRC does, as outlined in their annual report launched this week.