Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 December 2010
7 Deputy Frank Feighan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the framework for the review of registered employment agreements and employment regulation orders and if new legislation is necessary to facilitate this review [45392/10]
View answer38 Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the process for the proposed review of the framework registered employment agreements and the employment regulations orders arrangements, as promised in the National Recovery Plan 2011-2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45534/10]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 38 together.
The National Recovery Plan 2011-2014 sets out in detail the measures that will be taken to put our public finances in order and provides a blueprint for a return to sustainable growth in our economy. The plan identifies the areas of economic activity which will provide growth and employment in the next phase of our economic development. It specifies the reforms the Government will implement to accelerate growth in those key sectors.
I have consistently held that we need to ensure that statutory wage fixing mechanisms work effectively and efficiently and that they do not have a negative impact on economic performance and employment levels. I have urged all parties to these mechanisms and agreements to recognise the need for more responsiveness and flexibility in the operation of these wage determination procedures. The House will be aware that I have proposed to introduce an inability to pay mechanism for both registered employment agreements and employment regulation orders in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2009.
It is within this context that the Government has decided that a formal independent review of our statutory wage setting mechanisms, employment regulations orders and registered employment agreements should be undertaken within a short timeframe. The precise terms of reference and process for the review are currently being worked out and will be agreed shortly in consultation with the European Commission. It is expected that the review will commence early in the coming weeks. While no new legislation is necessary to facilitate the review, the Government is committed to taking urgent action, including making any legislative provision which may be necessary, following consideration of the recommendations from the review.
My only question is about what the precise mechanisms were and that is the one question the Minister of State did not answer. I know about the plan and the memorandum of understanding and that there is a commitment to deliver this within three months. However, I want to know how it is to be done.
At present, we are finalising the mechanism——
Tell me what is the mechanism and I will comment on whether I consider it to be good or bad.
An tAire——
We have a number of options. The Labour Court can be involved, although there is some discomfort among employer organisations with regard to the role of that institution. The Department is considering an independent review from within the Department, based on its knowledge and involving all the parties who are signatories to these various agreements, as well as other interested groups that may have an interest in the economy but may not be a signatory to such agreements, such as, for instance, chambers of commerce on the employer's side or general bodies.
Another option that is open is to conduct a review confined to all those who are directly affected. The Department is finalising exactly how it intends to do this as I wish to do so in a manner that will get an efficient and rapid response. In addition, it is the Minister's intention to involve all the parties in this House in the review.
I thank the Minister of State for his comments because my impression is that this is more of a difficulty than is the minimum wage, on which all the attention has been devoted and for which legal instruments are being introduced to cut it. The problem lies with inflexibilities, such as Sunday working premiums and being obliged to redesignate workers from one category to another on foot of a simple placing of a stool into a shop. I welcome changes in this regard, which should be accelerated. I am glad this will not require legal mechanisms and look forward to learning what the Government has decided on because this is an important area in which to move forward.
The Minister of State knows my views and I always have been in favour of modernisation and streamlining those agreements because some aspects of them acted as inhibitions. They were made for a different time, when nothing opened, or when there were no shops to open on the Sabbath in particular areas. However, time has moved on in respect of weekend working. Is it not the case that many such mechanisms inhibited private agreements between the employer and the employees? Some such agreements may have been facilitative but were caught.
The implementation and application of these mechanisms appears to have been a focus of NERA. Have any contacts been made with the trade union movement? I am concerned that any denigration, deprecation or diminution in any form of workers' rights should be avoided. That is important. However, a good corpus of labour law exists to protect workers rights in that regard. It will not be interfered with, which will ensure that such workers are protected and may obtain the rights to which they are duly entitled under law, both common and statutory. Has contact been made with any bodies, of either an informal or formal nature, with regard to this proposal? According to the memorandum of understanding, this matter must be addressed over the next three months or so.
It is the Government's wish to proceed quickly. There have been no formal contacts with anyone with regard to this matter since the publication of the four year plan. There had been many informal contacts before that, for instance the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, initiated some contacts during his time in this position with regard to reform. Everyone is agreed that the current procedures do not work. They are too slow to introduce changes, particularly in the challenging economic climate in which we operate. Changes must be introduced while ensuring that protection is in place for vulnerable workers.
I have two brief questions. When does the Minister of State expect the terms of reference for the review to be finalised and when does he expect the formal review will get under way? Will any agreement that is due to come into effect within the next three months be deferred, subject to the review being concluded?
The Department seeks to finalise the terms of reference as soon as possible, within days. As for the specific question the Deputy has asked, I must consult the Minister and departmental officials as to their impact. However, it is also a matter for the parties to the agreement, that is, for the employers and trade unions that have signed the agreement. They can make a decision in their own right without Government intervention. I understand the case to which the Deputy alluded pertains to the retail joint labour committee, where an increase is expected to be paid in January. They can make their own decision within that JLC to defer. However, the Department is engaged in consultations in that regard.
Is it not fair to state of the trade unions, workers' representatives and employees' representatives that, where issues have arisen in respect of these agreements, they have been highly facilitative and constructive to date with regard to reducing wages? I believe that one concerning construction workers is before the Labour Court at present and SIPTU is showing a highly constructive attitude in that regard.
Many unions have shown themselves to be highly responsive, as have many individual officials within unions. However, for those who do not wish to be responsive, on either side of the agreement, the structures allow for delay and prevarication and we cannot afford that in the current climate.
