Vol. 497 No. 7
88 Mr. Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of occasions the monitoring group on the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996, has met; its work programme and progress to date; when the group will complete its work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26222/98]
The Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996 came into operation on 2 January 1997. The purpose of the Act was to revise and extend the law relating to the protection of young persons in employment and to implement an EU Directive on the Protection of Young People at Work.
At my initiative, a monitoring group was established to appraise the effectiveness of the protection of young persons legislation and to monitor its enforcement. To date, the monitoring group has met on two occasions. The terms of reference of the group are to review the operation of the Act to advise on how the Act might be better implemented.
On the recommendation of the group, a questionnaire was issued in February last to over 50 organisations who might have been expected to have an interest in the operation of the legislation. While the response to the questionnaire was less than expected, in the main, those that did respond supported the suggestion that the provisions of the legislation be better publicised. In furtherance of this suggestion and at the behest of the group, my officials, as a specific initiative, have contacted publicans in the Dublin area to remind them of their responsibilities as regards the provisions of the young persons legislation.
A number of other issues are being considered by the group. The work of the group, as its terms of reference indicate, is expected to be ongoing.
