Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 15 Apr 1997

Vol. 477 No. 5

Written Answers. - Sunday Trading.

Seamus Brennan

Ceist:

277 Mr. S. Brennan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment his views on the issue of Sunday trading; his views on the social and employment aspects of such trading; the plans, if any, he has to legislate for such trading; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9710/97]

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. R. Bruton)

The Shops (Hours of Trading) Act, 1938, governs the opening hours of retail establishments. The Act provided for a ban on Sunday trading for most shops but gave the Minister power by order to add to the list of exempted businesses, or to exempt specified regions from the provisions of the Act. However, an order made later that year exempted the whole country from the provisions of the Act and effectively removed all restrictions on Sunday trading. This remains the position to the present time.

The 1938 Act was enacted for the primary purpose of regulating competition. Therefore any justification for the reintroduction of the legislation to ban even limited types of Sunday trading would have to be based first and foremost on competition considerations. I do not think that such considerations arise at present.

Sunday opening is commonplace in Ireland. Examples include hotel and catering, entertainment, continuous process, industrial, the health service and security services, newspapers, broadcasting etc., where a considerable variety of employments are represented. Legally, it is not possible to selectively ban Sunday trading for large shops. A sector-wide ban on Sunday trading in the retail sector would adversely affect small shops. It is not the intention of the Government to close small family shops, garages, 24-hour shops and shops which traditionally open on Sunday.

The issue of Sunday working is dealt with under the Organisation of Working Time Bill which has been cleared by the Dáil and will go before the Seanad in the next few weeks. The legislation proposes a range of health and safety protections for employees on rest and maximum weekly working time. In particular it proposes that employees will be entitled to a minimum weekly rest period which shall include Sunday, unless otherwise provided in an employee's contract of employment. This is the first time that the special position of Sunday as the traditional day of rest has been recognised in legislation. In addition, the Government has accepted a Fianna Fáil Private Members' Bill making Sunday working optional for employees of retail stores.