Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
1. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is campaigning within Government for the ratification of the international labour convention No. 190, on eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6894/22]
View answerThe question is a fairly straightforward one. I would like an update on the work being done to adopt and ratify labour convention No. 190. It sounds fairly innocuous but as the Tánaiste and I know, a lot comes from it. I ask for an update on the work currently ongoing in his Department. Specifically, is he pushing for ratification of the convention? I seek an understanding of what stage it is at.
Ireland became a member of the International Labour Organization, ILO, in 1923. It was the first international organisation the new State joined. We have been an active member ever since and in June 2021 we completed our first ever term as a titulaire, or full member, of the governing body of the ILO. Ireland is committed to being among the first ILO member states to ratify convention No. 190. To date, only ten of the 187 member states have ratified the convention and it is in force in three. A campaign within the Government is not necessary as the Government fully supports its ratification as a matter of priority. Ratification is being considered in the context of our standard approach to the ratification of international instruments. Under this approach, Ireland does not ratify a convention until it has been determined that national law is in line with the provisions of the international instrument. Convention No. 190 is the first ever international instrument on the very important issue of eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work. Ireland already has very strong protections in law to combat violence and harassment in the workplace and has ratified the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, that is, the Istanbul Convention. Officials in my Department are engaging with all relevant Departments and offices to establish the extent to which domestic legislative provisions already provide for the rights and entitlements included in the convention, as well as what legislative amendments, if any, may be required to enable ratification. The Department is currently carrying out an analysis of the outcomes and engaging with legal advisers. Officials are meeting this week to ensure there are no gaps. Following this consideration, as part of the ratification process in the coming months the Department will undertake a stakeholder consultation with trade unions, employer bodies and other interested parties. The views of the Attorney General will also be sought after the consultation phase, followed by the formal approval by the Government of ratification. We anticipate that we will be able to ratify and sign the instrument by July 2022, but certainly no later than the end of the calendar year. A formal ceremony will then take place to present the convention to the director general of the ILO in Geneva.
I thank the Tánaiste for that update. Ten states have already moved ahead of us but it would be good to provide leadership on this. The update is very welcome. The Tánaiste said that our national law has to be in line before the convention can be ratified. I fully appreciate that. One of the important aspects of this convention is that states would be required to put in place laws and measures to address violence in the workplace, including access to paid leave for victims and survivors of domestic abuse. I am sure the Tánaiste is aware that I have legislation on Committee Stage that would do just that. It is an important piece of workers' rights legislation. There is no dissent on this issue and it is in the programme for Government. I encourage the Tánaiste to work with me to get this legislation through so we can be in the best position to ratify the convention. It is welcome that the Government is focused on ratification but, as the Tánaiste has acknowledged, there are some gaps that need to be addressed.
As I mentioned earlier, ten countries have signed the convention and three have it in force. Different countries adopt different approaches to these things. Some countries sign things and spend ten or 20 years actually bringing them into force. We try to bring everything into force and then ratify, which I think is a better approach in the round. What we are doing at the moment is seeing if there are any gaps in our laws that we need to resolve before we sign. This will probably slip as these things tend to slip but the intention is that a memorandum will go to the Government in June, we will sign in July and do the formal handover in Geneva in August. These things tend to slip by a few months so my commitment is to have it done in this calendar year.
I appreciate that the Deputy has proposed legislation relating to paid leave for victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence but the Government is doing some work on that too. It might be possible to include it in legislation that the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is dealing with at the moment. He is bringing the EU directive on flexible work into Irish law. That has to be done by August so that might be the mechanism by which we deal with that issue.
That might be the mechanism and my legislation might also be the mechanism. We have had a lot of engagement on the floor of the Dáil on the need to take swift action in the area of gender-based violence. This is a fundamental piece of legislation. As a workplace representative, I have seen people - usually women but not always - in this situation. Enacting my Bill would be in line with the Government's objective of making sure all the ducks are in a row prior to signing and ratification. I welcome that a date has been set although I understand that might not be fulfilled and that the commitment is to do it by the end of the year. I encourage the Tánaiste to engage with my legislation because it is written and ready to go. It was introduced by us in 2019 but we could not bring it through due to the fall of the previous Dáil. It is written by the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, and is very simple legislation that amends the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. It would bring us in line and put us in a good position to sign the convention.
I am not sure if we have to bring in that formal leave as a requirement of the convention. I would have to double-check that. Regardless, I think it is accepted across the House that it is a good idea and it has been done in some other countries. We need to engage with the Deputy on that, as well as with employer bodies, the unions and the office of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
