Vol. 400 No. 6
3 Mr. T. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Labour if he has satisfied himself with the outcome of the Dublin Summit meeting, in so far as progress on the Social Charter was concerned; if he will outline his plans to secure further progress during the Italian Presidency on implementation of the Charter; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
27 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Labour if he will outline the progress which has been made on the implementation of the Action Programme of the Social Charter, during the period of Ireland's Presidency of the EC Council of Ministers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 27 together. I am satisfied that the outcome of the Dublin Summit will serve to facilitate progress on the Social Charter and I will continue to co-operate with the Italian Presidency as they co-operated with me over the past six months to ensure that by the end of 1992 all the proposals of the Commission under the action programme will have been examined and decided upon.
As Deputy De Rossa will be aware, the power of initiative in relation to draft instruments under the action programme rests with the Commission. Since January there have been three developments in relation to the implementation of the Charter. Faced with the volume and complexity of the extensive programme of legislation contemplated in the action programme, I secured the agreement of the Commissioner and the forthcoming Italian and Luxembourg Presidencies to a timetable covering several Presidency periods with a view to facilitating the achievement of the 1992 target, as I have already stated. I am pleased that this timetable has been welcomed by the European Council.
Secondly, the Commissioner instituted a new process of consultation with the social partners and had extensive discussion on the thinking underlying her priority proposals for instruments on atypical work and the adaptation of working time. While some may express concern at what they see as slow progress by the Commission in sending proposals to the Council, I believe that the process of consulatation will help to achieve balance in the texts.
Finally, with regard to the one package of draft legal instruments which the Commission recently sent to the Council — those on part-time and temporary workers — I arranged that discussion of them would commence in the relevant Council working party last week.
Does the Minister agree that the meetings of the Social Affairs Committee held during the Presidency failed to give high priority to the social issues contained in the Social Charter? I refer specifically to the meetings in Dublin between 29 March and 2 May.
I totally reject that. We discussed the issues of long-term unemployment, the social action programme and the Social Charter. The very futuristic document issued by the Commission at the end of the French Presidency has become a fully fledged document with a programme for the next two years agreed by the Commission and the next two Presidencies, who will implement it. We also got negotiating rights for the ETUC which they sought. Any instrument to be prepared by the Council will be given first to them two months in advance. They now have an involvement, as the Irish social partners have, in all the directives. They are very pleased with that and with the Irish Presidency. They are in Dublin today.
Is the Minister aware of the analysis in the Coopers and Lybrand report published at the beginning of the Irish Presidency which indicated that nothing was on the negotiating table during the Presidency and that therefore Ireland was unlikely to achieve more than preliminary discussion of the programme?
I never met anyone from Coopers and Lybrand at a union meeting or a Council meeting. The Deputy knows more than I about it.
The Minister is aware of the existence of the report.
Question No. 4 in the name of Deputy Monica Barnes must be dealt with and replied to now. I would ask the Minister to respond.
The social action programme was fully dealt with during the Presidency.
I have called Question No. 4. The Chair should be obeyed by both sides of the House.
