Under the terms of the Employment Agencies Act, 1971, a person shall not carry on the business of an employment agency except under and in accordance with a licence under that Act. In 1999, 447 employment agencies were licensed to operate and 23 new licences were issued to date this year. All licences issued under the Act have a validity period of one year at the end of which, subject to continued adherence by the licensees to the relevant governing conditions, they are renewed upon application.
Under provisions specified in section 9 (2) of the Employment Agency Regulations, 1972, employment agency licence holders are required to furnish returns to me on a twice yearly basis indicating, inter alia, the number of persons whom they have placed in employment within and outside the State. The returns so furnished to me in respect of the period January-June 1999 indicate that, in that period, a total of 35,028 people were placed in employment, that is, 31,982 within the State and 3,046 outside the State. Of those placed within the State 17,374 were granted permanent positions and 14,608 were granted temporary positions. Of those placed outside the State 805 were granted permanent positions and 2,241 were granted temporary positions.
The primary instrument by which employment agency activity is monitored/regulated is the licensing scheme. Licences are issued to applicants only when they have fulfilled, to the full satisfaction of my Department, the relevant governing conditions as laid down by the 1971 Act and by regulations made thereunder. These conditions are designed, in the main, to ensure that only persons who are of good character and who carry on employment agency business from prem ises which are suitable for that purpose are granted licences. In assessing applications my Department operates a policy of strict adherence to all the licensing criteria. Monitoring activity also involves the checking of daily newspapers to ensure that employment agencies which advertise are licensed in accordance with the Act.
Under the Act, employment agencies are required to submit statistics showing the number of placements, both permanent and temporary and also placements outside the State. In the event of a complaint against a particular agency, the labour inspectorate of my Department is empowered under the Act to investigate any such complaint.