I move amendment No. 36:
In page 25, subsection (4), lines 20 to 25, to delete paragraph (b).
It is difficult to envisage a situation where employment or training is conditional on accepting communal sleeping arrangements as opposed to shared accommodation in hospitals, hotels or other places. If this section is intended to exempt the Navy, it should be specifically stated. I am unsure as to the purpose of this provision, deem it inappropriate and it should therefore be deleted.
We are proposing to delete paragraph (b) which states:
(b) where, because of the nature of the employment it is necessary to provide sleeping and sanitary accommodation for employees on a communal basis and it would be unreasonable to expect the provision of separate accommodation of that nature or impracticable for an employer so to provide.
Will the Minister explain what is intended here?
I consulted widely in the process of developing this legislation and I categorically state that the operation of this provision was not called into question. The provision is sufficiently tightly worded to avoid abuse. I am satisfied that few employers who require live-in workers will be able to establish, first, the necessity for communal sleeping and sanitary accommodation and, secondly, that the provision of separate accommodation would be either unreasonable or impracticable in their case.
The exclusion has applications in agriculture and the fishing industry, for example, where two or three workers may be accommodated in the farm dwelling or a small fishing vessel and space does not allow for separate accommodation. To a limited extent where similar circumstances arise in the hotel industry or in private domestic work, the failure to provide this exclusion would seem to impact most heavily on a minority of small employers who, because of the nature of their business, offer live-in employment.
I am convinced of the value of this provision and consider its deletion would diminish the serious intent of the Bill. This provision has been part of the Employment Equality Act, 1977, for the last 11 years. The provision arises from regulations made in 1985 and replaces a more broadly drawn exclusion contained in the 1977 Act.
I thank the Minister for the explanation and withdraw the amendment.
