Vol. 561 No. 6
70 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to EU Directive 99/77/EC which came into force in the EU in July 2001; the main provisions concerning the renewal of fixed-term contracts of this directive; if this has been implemented by the Government, the date of implementation; if not, the reason for the delay; and when this directive is likely to be enforced here. [5130/03]
In November 2002 my Department forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General heads of a Bill aimed at implementing the provisions of EU Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by the general cross-industry organisations at European level – UNICE, the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe, CEEP, the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation, and ETUC, the European Trade Union Confederation.
The objectives of the directive and the Bill are to improve the quality of fixed-term work by ensuring the application of the principle of non-discrimination and to establish a framework to prevent abuse arising from the use of successive fixed-term employment contracts. Ongoing work throughout 2001 on the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 which transposed into Irish law the provisions of Council Directive 97/81/ EC of 15 December 1997 concerning the framework agreement on part-time work concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC, delayed somewhat the detailed consideration of the specific issues raised by the social partners in their respective submissions on the fixed-term contracts directive and which are reflected in the Bill currently being drafted by the Office of the Attorney General. I hope to have the appropriate Bill published before the start of the next Dáil session in April 2003 and to have the legislation enacted before the summer recess.
