Vol. 484 No. 3
28 Mr. Bell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when she will bring forward legislation to regulate Sunday trading, including a voluntary opt-out for shop workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22041/97]
The Shops (Hours of Trading) Act, 1938, governs the opening hours of retail establishments. The Act provides for a ban on Sunday trading for most shops but gives the Minister power, by order, to add to the list of exempted businesses or to exempt specified regions from the provisions of the Act. An order made later that year exempted the entire country from the provisions of the Act and effectively removed all restrictions on Sunday trading. This remains the position.
It has been suggested that concerns expressed about the growth of Sunday trading in recent years might be addressed by reintroducing controls under the 1938 Act. However, the previous Government obtained legal advice to the effect that distinctions between shops for the purposes of Sunday trading on the basis of type or size would be vulnerable to constitutional challenge. For this reason it took the view, when it included certain provisions on Sunday working in the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, that any difficulties to which the increase in Sunday trading had given rise could, and should, be dealt with as conditions of employment issues.
My colleague, Deputy Tom Kitt, Minister of State at my Department, met representatives of IBEC and ICTU in September last to review the position of trading and working on Sundays in the retail sector. Following such meetings, he wrote to both parties on 9 October inviting them to open discussions with a view to exploring the possibility of an agreement addressing the issue being entered into between employer and employee representatives of the main players in the sector.
ICTU responded on 6 November 1997 to the effect that they would be happy to enter into discussions. The Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, wrote further to the Director General of IBEC on 1 December pressing for an early response to his proposal.
The positive approach adopted to date by both sides in their discussions with the Minister of State is to be commended. I am satisfied that the partnership approach, rather than an attempted legislative solution, offers the most realistic prospect of progress on this contentious issue. I await developments with interest.
