asked the Minister for Labour if any talks have been held on the proposal of the EEC Commissioner for the social fund that overtime or "work stealing" should be stopped and that the EEC should pay the workers affected for a period of time the wages lost through this measure.
Ceisteanna—Questions . Oral Answers . - EEC Overtime Proposal .
3.
: I assume the Deputy is referring to reports in the press that Commissioner Vredeling, on his recent visit to Ireland, indicated that the EEC Commission were investigating methods of eliminating the regular working of overtime and that the social fund might be used to compensate the workers concerned for their loss of overtime pay.
The Commission's current views in relation to overtime are contained in a document on work sharing which was discussed at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Employment on 21 March 1978 and in other Community bodies. In the document the Commission promised to examine the feasibility of action designed to limit or discourage recourse to overtime, for example, by introducing paid compensatory time off. I understand the Commission will present the results of this work at the next tripartite conference which it is expected will be held later this year. I am not aware of any formal proposals by the Commission to utilise the social fund to pay compensation for the loss of overtime earnings.