Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 5 Dec 2002

Vol. 558 No. 6

Written Answers. - Employment of Young Persons.

Joan Burton

Question:

36 Ms Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the procedures in place to ensure that the provisions of the Employment of Young Persons Act on the employment of young people late at night is complied with, particularly having regard to the findings of the recent report, Student Underachievement and Part Time Work, which found that the employment of young people may be leading to underachievement in examinations; the number of workplace inspections, arising from the employment of young people, that were carried out in 2001 and 2002 to date; the number of such inspections that were carried out outside of normal office hours; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24858/02]

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Mr. Fahey)

Responsibility for the enforcement of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996 rests with the Labour Inspectorate of my Department. Inspectors carry out both day time and night time work as part of their normal conditions of service. The night time element of their duties is almost exclusively related to the work of the enforcement of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996. Targeted inspections by way of out of normal office hours inspection activity, throughout various employment sectors, including fast food outlets, restaurants, licensed premises and hotels are a regular feature of the work of the inspectorate. During 2001 some 1062 inspections under the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996 were undertaken. Of these, 768 were day time inspections while 294 were undertaken at night time. To date some 1,070 inspections have been carried out. Of these, 786 were day time inspections while 284 were night time inspections.

In addition, the employment rights information unit of my Department concluded a pro-active awareness campaign earlier this year whereby all secondary schools were circulated with information on all aspects of employment law, including details of the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996. Staff of that unit also visit secondary schools, citizen information centres and other organisations to disseminate information on general labour law, including the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996.

If there is evidence that employers are breaking the requirements of the Act, I would ask that these be brought to the attention of the Labour Inspectorate for investigation and further action.