Vol. 417 No. 1
51 Mr. S. Barrett asked the Minister for Labour if the terms and conditions for the employment of security personnel under contract by State or semi-State bodies, as laid down in the registered agreement for security, are currently being applied in the case of security companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Responsibility for ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the registered agreement is a matter for the employers concerned in the first instance. However, the labour inspectorate of my Department carries out inspections of security companies covered by the Registered Employment Agreement for the Security Industry to ensure compliance with the agreement. In 1991 the inspectorate carried out 69 inspections of security companies covered by the agreement and recovered arrears of wages of £4,608 in respect of eight employees in three companies. Legal proceedings have been instituted and are currently awaiting hearing against two security companies which appear to have breached the agreement.
As Minister for Labour, I have no statutory control over the terms and conditions applied by State and semi-State bodies when security contracts are being awarded. However, I would naturally be especially concerned if security companies which hold contracts from State and semi-State bodies were in breach of the agreement. In order to ensure that such a situation would not arise, my colleague, the Minister for Finance in his capacity as Minister for Labour, wrote to the relevant Ministers in April 1990 about the matter. In his letter, Minister Ahern indicated that companies which were covered by the agreement should be required by all State bodies granting contracts to give an undertaking that they fully comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement and he requested that an appropriate clause be included to that effect on all contracts being granted to private sector companies covered by the agreement.
If the Deputy is aware of any security company in respect of contracts undertaken either in the public or private sectors, which is not in compliance with the agreement, I would appreciate if he would give me the name of the company responsible and I will ensure that the matter is investigated and appropriate action is taken.
