Vol. 600 No. 5
63 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when the report of the consumer strategy group will be published; if he will outline the report’s recommendations, if he intends to implement the report in full; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12264/05]
The consumer strategy group presented its final report to me on 2 March 2005. The report contains more than 30 recommendations involving a variety of Departments and agencies. I am currently considering the report and its recommendations in conjunction with my colleagues in Government. I expect to publish the report and to announce my plans to progress the recommendations in the coming weeks.
Will the Minister elaborate on the contents of the report since he has had it since 2 March? Why has it taken the Minister so long to publish the report and to let us know the precise nature of these recommendations to ensure we have a consumer policy at Government level for the first time?
When a report comes to Government it should be seriously considered and there are significant recommendations in the report that require a collective Government response. I want to be in a position when the report is published to indicate the Government's position on a number of headline issues. There are around 30 recommendations, some of which can be progressed over time.
The report supports the view that there is a need for a strong institutional voice for the consumer in terms of policy formulation and makes the point that such a voice is absent at present. It has strong opinions on the Groceries Order and takes a position on it that is widely known — it will recommend that the order be lifted. In addition, it recommends how the proposed consumer voice could represent the consumer in submissions to regulators. I want to deal with such issues with my Cabinet colleagues.
The Minister knows that in this House, Fine Gael has proposed a method by which there can be a consumer voice — the consumer rights enforcer. The Government voted this down on the basis that it would bring forward its own proposals. That is taking a considerable length of time and in the meantime, consumers are very frustrated with the level of unwarranted cost increases that are little more than deliberate extortion in many sectors. To prevent any more frustration on the part of consumers, will the Minister adopt an ombudsman approach for them so they can have the opportunity to make complaints and seek redress where possible? The institutional consumer voice the Minister mentioned should not take long to set up because he has the full support of this side of the House for such a proposal.
Did the Minister present the consumer strategy group report to the Cabinet yesterday? Why has it not been published? Are there problems at Cabinet level on agreeing an overall consumer strategy in accordance with the report?
It has been presented to Cabinet and is being deliberated on at Cabinet level. It is still on the Cabinet agenda. That is normal; we cannot expect Cabinet to endorse reports on the nod. People want to interrogate the proposals and will have perspectives on them. It is being seriously considered.
Only last week, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, introduced the Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill in the Seanad. That Bill incorporates seven sections that raise the level of penalties in the core consumer legislation enforced by the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, such as the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980, the Consumer Information Act 1978, the Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act 1995, the National Standards Authority of Ireland Act 1996, the Restrictive Practices Act 1972, the Prices Act 1958, the Consumer Credit Act 1995. The Director of Consumer Affairs who had raised the issue of the low level of penalties in consumer legislation in two consecutive annual reports recommended all of that.
Inflation is running at 2.1% as a result of a range of concerted Government actions. We have made significant progress on holding back the tide of inflation.
I am glad the Minister mentioned the legislation introduced in the Seanad last week. It is very unusual to insert miscellaneous sections into a Bill to deal with the many consumer interests listed.
Why has it taken so long for the Government to adjudicate on the Groceries Order when it has substantially increased the amount of money a person can be fined for a breach of the order in this new legislation? The fine now stands at up to €60,000, up from €1,000. Surely it is accepted Government practice that if the fines for the breach of an order are being increased, the order itself will be retained.
Some public commentators tried to make that point recently but they were being disingenuous. This Bill covers a broad tranche of consumer legislation at the behest of the Director of Consumer Affairs. All of the Acts I listed are affected by the increase in penalties and fines. In no way, however, can that be interpreted as an indication of the Government's position on retaining or abolishing the Groceries Order.
Why were the fines increased?
We increased the fines across a raft of consumer legislation. That is standard practice for any existing legislation. It does not indicate anything. The Attorney General has advised that in the event of repealing the Groceries Order, primary legislation would be required. That option will be considered once the Government deals with the Groceries Order.
It is an unsatisfactory method of dealing with it — inserting a miscellaneous section into a Bill that has nothing to do with it.
It is common practice.
64 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a report prepared by officials of his Department found that lack of staff, resources, training and legal support was hampering the pursuit of employers who exploit their workers; the steps being taken to address this situation, particularly in view of increasing reports of exploitation of foreign workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12263/05]
Arising from paragraph 12.4 of the mid-term review of Sustaining Progress, and to assist in the preparation of proposals for consideration by Government, the labour inspectorate prepared a discussion document on its mandate and resourcing. This comprehensive document was circulated to the social partners in January of this year so that their views could be obtained.
The discussion document covered all issues that impact on the operation of the labour inspectorate, ranging from the legislative framework right through to the operational aspects and staff development. It also looked at a range of possibilities around the operation of the labour inspectorate and offered a spectrum of possibilities, ranging from a compliance regime where the initiative would move more toward the complainant, with the labour inspectorate offering support, to a model where the right of initiative would be with the labour inspectorate, which would have a hands-on approach.
The labour inspectorate, and the individuals therein, are very much to the fore in seeking compliance with employment rights legislation and, as such, interact at a range of levels in the workplace, i.e., with migrant workers, young people, the low-paid and the full range of management within the workplace. Accordingly, the inspectorate requires particular skills and this need has been addressed in the recent past through specialised training provided in the context of the performance management and development system operating in the Department. Examples of the structured and formalised training delivered specifically to the labour inspectorate in recent years would range from courtroom skills, competency development packages, specialised driver training, racism awareness and the safe pass training scheme to enable them operate on building sites. A particular emphasis has been maintained on team building and working within the inspectorate, given that it operates in a team format with work distributed accordingly.
The discussion document has been well received among the social partners, with some comments received and others awaited, although initial favourable views have been made known. An interactive phase on the discussion document will get under way shortly whereby the range of choices will be narrowed down.
The inspectorate does a difficult job in an efficient and courteous manner and it always projects the Department's core principles of seeking to ensure compliance with the employment rights entitlements of workers, regardless of whether they are Irish or migrant workers. Compliance is achieved by means of advice, guidance, restitution of moneys due, with €486,000 recovered in 2004 and, ultimately, prosecutions, with 14 initiated in 2004.
I welcomed the appointment of the Minister of State not so long ago, but I am afraid he has reverted to Department speak very quickly after his appointment. I ask him to address the questions asked in my priority question. Is it not a fact, and will the Minister not acknowledge, that the labour inspectorate in this internal review stated that it was prevented from properly policing the minimum wage and other employment rights? Is that not a vindication of a position I have taken over many months with him and his Department? Is it not now the case that there is an unanswerable case for a significant increase in the number of labour inspectors? When will we see those labour inspectors on the ground? Is it not a fact also that in the review the Minister acknowledges exists the labour inspectors said they had seldom if ever had their full complement of 21 available to them? Is it not almost a scandal that in a workforce now in excess of 2 million, 21 people, even if all were on active duty at any given time, are expected to enforce an increasingly complicated labour market with increasingly complicated labour laws? Is it not a fact that the dereliction of the Department in providing adequate policing has led directly to the climate of tolerance of exploitation we have witnessed recently?
As I said, the labour inspectorate's report was circulated to the social partners in January. As the Deputy will be aware, and as I said previously in response to his questions, up to last year the number of labour inspectors was 17. There were some difficulties last year because some of them were involved in work associated with the European Presidency. The number was increased following the mid-term review to 21 inspectors and it was announced last week that it will increase to 32 in total, which in terms of the number available in 2004 is a substantial increase. I acknowledge that the trade unions, particularly SIPTU, have argued strongly for an increase in the number of labour inspectors and I am glad the Government is able to accede to that request.
Will the Minister acknowledge that the proof of the pudding is what happens on the ground? Is it not a fact that the number of inspections dropped from 7,168 in 2003 to 5,160 last year, a decrease of approximately 2,000 inspections? Is it not a fact also that prosecutions have fallen from 20 in 2003 to 14 last year? We are going backwards and the notion that all is well or will soon be well is to give a nod if not a wink to the climate of exploitation that has been unearthed in cases such as that involving Gama workers or the Filipino woman who was expected to work for €1 an hour on an Irish Ferries vessel operating out of my constituency. Will the Minister not acknowledge that there is an urgent need, in the increasingly complicated labour market in operation in our country, to have a vigorous policing system? Will he not acknowledge also that it is pointless in Members of this House enacting legislation to protect workers if there is little prospect of it being enforced on the ground?
A number of lessons arise from the points made by Deputy Howlin and indeed adverted to by almost every Member of the House. There is no doubt that there are employers who will exploit their workers but a second and important lesson is that the labour inspectorate eventually catches up with those people——
It did not.
——and prepares reports which ultimately have to be placed before the courts.
Only the whistleblowers caught up with them, thank God.
The Deputy will acknowledge, as will anybody who is familiar with the law here, that one is required to present evidence in court and produce people who are prepared to give that evidence. That has been a difficulty heretofore but it is one that is gradually, and perhaps too slowly, being addressed. We need to send out a strong message from this House that those employers who continue to exploit their workers will eventually be brought to court and dealt with under the processes of law.
Not with an inadequate policing system.
A doubling of the numbers involved in the labour inspectorate in a very short time is not a bad achievement.
65 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans for the delivery of a national workplace strategy, as outlined in a recent report of the Forum on the Workplace of the Future, particularly in relation to the work and life balance aspects of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12452/05]
The Taoiseach launched the Report of the Forum on the Workplace of the Future on 9 March 2005. The report contains 42 separate recommendations, which form the basis for a national workplace strategy. The strategy aims to create a climate conducive to supporting change and new forms of work organisation at national and organisational level.
A high level group comprising senior representatives of a number of Departments, ICTU, IBEC and semi-State agencies and bodies will oversee the appropriate implementation of the national workplace strategy, including aspects relating to work-life balance. I have been asked by the Taoiseach to chair this group and I expect to convene a meeting of the group in the next few weeks.
I welcome the report but we have heard the same comment for many years. In 1997, the OECD Ministers, including our own, said they would put a particular urgency on trying to bring flexible work arrangements and work-life balance into the workplace. In 2002, the then Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, the Minister of State's predecessor, said that providing flexibility was an essential part of the labour market supply. The Taoiseach and the Minister of State, at the launch of this latest report, again emphasised the competitive as well as social advantages we would get from providing a more flexible system, but what do we have in reality?
A central part of policy of the Progressive Democrats friends of the Minister, Deputy Martin, is that we use schools from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to try to get some flexibility into our lives, without anyone having asked a child whether that might be a clever policy in the long run. The current Parental Leave Bill gives nothing in addition and could have been written by the worst elements of IBEC, who do not believe in providing any practical benefits for people. What practical legislative measure does the Minister intend to proceed with immediately to fulfil the commitment given in the seven years this Government has been in office? What other additional measures in terms of maternity leave, parental leave, flexible working conditions and ability to engage in term work and part-time work does the Minister of State intend to legislate for or is it all just talk from the Government on this issue?
I acknowledge the considerable work that was done in preparing this report and the fact that it arises from the deliberations of the social partners, among others. We sometimes fail to acknowledge the value of social partnership. I thought the Deputy might say that I was one of the least qualified people to be chairperson of the group in view of the type of unfriendly working hours Members of the House undertake on an ongoing basis. To some extent it is perhaps a matter of saying, "Do as I say and not as I do". It is true, however, that the findings of the report set the agenda for the future in terms of work-life balance. We have a tradition of partnership which must be developed. It offers the opportunity to significantly improve work-life balance in the workplace. I welcome the fact that the social partners have been so proactive in this regard and reached a considerable level of agreement, particularly when one examines the 42 recommendations in the report. I look forward to implementing the recommendations which are directly within the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and to encouraging other Departments in the areas of their responsibilities.
To be practical, on the issue of parental leave, for example, the Minister rightly said we have a social partnership model here. In the negotiation on that Bill, which is one aspect of the type of work-life balance arrangements we could set in place, IBEC almost ruled out any possible changes despite the fact that we are one of the few countries in the European Union that does not allow for paid parental leave. Our provisions in that regard run completely counter to the intent of the report he has just lauded. How can the Minister explain the Government, on the one hand, talking up work-life balance and trying to provide for quality of life while, on the other, legislation yet to be passed by the House provides nothing in that direction?
As Deputies will be aware, there have been considerable improvements in legislation in a number of areas in recent years. Deputy Ryan might say that the rate of progress has been much slower than he and others would like.
"Pathetic" is the word.
Nevertheless, the group undertook a very difficult job and is to be lauded for having formulated its report and recommendations. A vision was presented of a future workplace which is agile, customer-centred, knowledge intensive, responsive to employee needs, networked, highly productive, involved and participatory, continually learning and proactively diverse. It is the kind of workplace we all aspire to create. I am prepared to give the report every chance and to work closely with the social partners and others to deliver the quality of workplace envisaged.
66 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will address immediately the erosion of Ennis as an industrial base with the recent announcement that a company (details supplied) will close with the loss of 131 jobs; if a new industrial investment programme for Ennis in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Shannon Development will be developed as a matter of urgency to address the lack of investment in the town over the past 15 years to prevent Ennis from becoming a dormitory town; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12265/05]
I was disappointed to hear of the recent decision by the company in question to cease production at its Ennis-based manufacturing facility. The company employs 44 permanent and 87 temporary staff in its manufacturing operation and I understand the positions will be phased out over a 12 to 18 month period. The European sales and marketing team of 15 staff, which is also based in Ennis, is not affected by the decision. The job losses are the result of the company's decision to consolidate production at its facilities in the United States of America where it already has surplus capacity.
This day last week, a meeting of the Industry Ennis group, which was formed in 2000, took place to discuss employment in Ennis. The group's primary function is to support and, where possible, augment the services of the development agencies which operate in the area, including IDA Ireland, Shannon Development and the Clare County Enterprise Board. The outcome of the meeting was a decision by the group to develop a strategy to address employment in Ennis. The strategy will build on the group's work with State agencies to continue to promote Ennis through initiatives such as the Clare consul programme, which targets successful business people with Clare connections, and foreign direct investment itineraries.
Industry Ennis has helped 20 companies to create 358 jobs, of which 280 are established, with the remainder to be filled in the coming months. The live register shows a decrease in Ennis of 130 people in the year-on-year position at March 2005. The reduction reflects the success to date of various initiatives for the area. Last year, Ennis benefited from investment decisions by Organic Lens, which decided to add to its existing operation, and Monster Cable, which announced a new project for the town. Organic Lens will implement a €6.5 million programme of investment to develop its manufacturing operation which will create 100 jobs while Monster Cable will establish a shared-services centre which will create 50 jobs.
Shannon Development has recently completed the construction of phase 1 of the information age park in Ennis, which is its fifth knowledge-network location in the mid-west. The park constitutes an overall investment of €12.5 million in land, infrastructure and buildings and will provide 46,000 square feet of world-class incubation, expansion and own-door office accommodation in an urban park environment on the outskirts of the town. The investment marks the first phase of a significant development for Ennis and, as part of it, Shannon Development will relocate its regional office for Clare to the park. It is anticipated that over €100 million will be invested in the park by the public and private sectors over the next 15 years.
I am satisfied that the combined efforts of the development agencies together with the work of Industry Ennis will be sufficient to address the needs of the town. I look forward to examining the forthcoming strategy for the area.
While the Minister provided statistics on overall employment, there have been over 570 job losses in Ennis in the past six years. As the Minister will know, Ennis is now the tenth largest town in Ireland with a population of 24,000, which will grow to 35,000 in 15 years. If people want to live there, they must want to work there also. While it is a fine town and the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, will open next week the Organic Lens extension which will provide extra jobs, Ennis has not attracted the level of investment appropriate to a hub town. There are continuing job losses and seven companies have closed in the past six years. What will the Minister do about it? Did he come up with any plan during his recent visits to China and Australia?
The Deputy has correctly identified that Ennis is a growth town, which it would not be if it were not a vibrant and attractive location.
It is becoming a residential town.
It continues to grow as a genuine location for investment. Considerable restructuring is ongoing in the economy in the profiles of jobs and the sectors in which employment is growing and declining. The services sector is an obvious one in which there has been continued growth in employment. While there have been job losses in certain traditional areas, there have been job increases across the board in other sectors. Many additional jobs have been created which do not warrant a major announcement such as five in one business and ten in another. Jobs are also created through the more substantial projects announced, for example, by Monster Cable and Organic Lens.
A town like Ennis cannot be considered in isolation. The live register shows a decrease which indicates that there is less unemployment in the town than there was this time last year. The town must be viewed in a regional context and in terms of the spatial plan through which IDA Ireland is marketing the region for investment and Ennis as a hub town, and will continue to do so. Through the work of Shannon Development, there will be a continuing focus on growing indigenous businesses in the Shannon area, including Ennis. When I was in China recently, I worked with Shannon Development, which organised a seminar to make a presentation to a number of interested parties of information on the company and the way in which it organises and supports indigenous enterprise in the mid-west.
Will the Minister undertake in his Department an investment programme which specifically targets Ennis? It is his responsibility to promote enterprise, trade and employment. The manufacturing industry in the town continues to be eroded. While I acknowledge that the information age park which was opened last month is a fine facility, we need jobs for it which we are not getting. The Minister mentioned Industry Ennis, which is starved of the funding it needs to source and secure employment. While I acknowledge the establishment of Westpark Data Centre in Shannon for the database industry, which the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, launched last week, it will benefit the whole mid-west region, whereas I am calling for action on Ennis specifically. While there are many small to medium enterprises in Ennis, job losses occur among them also which we do not hear about. As the Minister has praised Ennis today, will he consider a specific investment programme for the town?
A considerable programme of investment in Ennis has been implemented across a range of Departments.
Where are the jobs?
Investment in fixed infrastructure leads ultimately to the attraction of jobs to an area and economic growth. The Deputy mentioned the information age park, which is a very significant investment for Ennis which, the Deputy will agree, will constitute a significant factor in the attraction of overseas and indigenous investment to the town. The Government's investment strategy includes the capital projects of various Departments on roads, schools and industrial parks. My Department works through development agencies such as IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, county enterprise boards, of which Clare has a very fine one, and, in the mid-west, Shannon Development. They are the vehicles through which we endeavour to attract and facilitate investment in Ennis and similar locations.
Ireland's employment statistics are the best in Europe. Our unemployment rates are the lowest at 4%. There is an incompatibility between the statistical reality of employment and some of the commentary I hear from various locations across the country.
There is no regional balance.
67 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if, in view of the litany of revelations of exploitation of migrant workers which have come to public attention in recent weeks, legislation will be brought forward to reform the work permits system in order that a work permit may be held by the employee rather than the employer. [12173/05]
Most of our labour force requirements can be met from within the European economic area, which comprises the 25 member states, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. A work permit is granted to an employer in respect of a specified employee and job vacancy where the employer can demonstrate that a vacancy cannot be filled from within the EEA. Apart from the renewal of existing permits, which constitute the bulk of applications, new permits are confined to highly skilled and highly paid positions. Current policy is informed by the imperative to address identified labour and skills needs in the economy. To best achieve these ends, work permits are applied and paid for by, and granted to, an employer, which ensures greater traceability, more effective enforcement of employees' rights and enhanced administrative efficiency. Persons employed in Ireland under the work permit scheme in recent years have been readily facilitated in changing jobs. In such circumstances a new work permit is issued to the person's new employer. This allows an employee to move to a new employer where there are genuine reasons an employee wishes to leave his or her existing employment.
A new employment permits Bill, which is at the final stages of preparation, will include provision for additional protections for migrant workers. It is intended that employers will be prohibited from deducting from the remuneration of migrant workers any costs associated with their recruitment and the retention by employers of personal documents belonging to migrant workers. The issue of to whom the permit will be granted will be addressed in the Bill.
Does the Minister agree that the current system is designed to disempower migrant workers and facilitate their exploitation by employers or at least has that effect? Does the Minister also agree that a migrant worker, a person in a foreign land who probably has some language difficulties and whose ability to remain here is dependent on the employer who holds his or her work permit, is much more likely to tolerate exploitation or abuse than would an indigenous worker? Does the Minister accept that this is part of the problem and that resolving the issue of who holds the work permit is part of the solution? Does he further accept that if the employee were to hold the permit, it would reduce the almost total dependence on the employer in the first place? Recent revelations that have emerged about Gama Construction, Irish Ferries and a whole host of other employers demonstrate the level of difficulty that exists in this area, and how workers are being exploited.
The Deputy is making reasonable points. The key issue in the legislation that is now pending is how we accommodate the Deputy's concerns in terms of enhancing the empowerment of the employee in the relationship between employer and employee in the context of a work permit. Traceability is an important factor in terms of the protection of an employee. This is something we will probably discuss in the context of the Bill. If an employee holds the work permit, the element of traceability becomes more difficult and one may not become aware of a range of abuses that could be carried out in respect of certain employees.
I accept the point that we must enhance and empower the employee to a much greater extent. We are examining the modality for doing that in the context of the application for work permits. In the proposed legislation it is my intention to give much greater freedom of mobility to employees to go to other employments and to make much greater statutory provision of information in terms of entitlements, salaries and so on.
One of the reasons I have raised this issue on several occasions is to try to have it included in the provisions of the new Bill. Does the Minister accept that if it is not dealt with comprehensively within the Bill, the legislation will be considerably weakened? I look forward with interest to the publication of the Bill and wish it speedy progress. In light of the reticence on the inclusion of a measure to the effect that the employee would hold the work permit, has the Minister or the Department been lobbied by employers' organisations to try to omit this from the Bill? In terms of the exploitation that exists in this area, we know of a Filipino woman who was employed by Irish Ferries for €1 a day. Will such employers be prosecuted for transgressing on this issue?
I look forward to the Deputy's input to the debate when the legislation comes before the House. I ask him to keep an open mind and take on board all the issues that will be raised. I want to achieve the right solution for employees. I have not been lobbied by any employer or employment body on this aspect of the Bill but submissions may have been received in the two years since the Bill was originally conceived.
I am afraid it has been at least two years.
Two other items of legislation, the Employment Equality Act and the Employment Permits Act, which was passed last year, affected it.
The employment permits Bill has been in preparation for years.
I assure the Deputy that its publication is imminent. We are examining the issue raised by Deputy Morgan. The key issue is the protection of the employee so that whatever system is introduced, we can pursue cases where workers' rights have been abused.
Can the Minister not do that at present?
We can and we are.
Is that the case?
The labour inspectorate is pursuing a variety of breaches of the labour laws, some of which are high profile cases. The fact that the employer holds the permit has enabled the inspectorate to go quickly to the source of the problem. We do not wish to lose that capacity.
That concludes Priority Questions. We now take ordinary questions. I remind the House that supplementary questions and answers are subject to a maximum of one minute.
