Priority Questions.

Departmental Agencies.

Phil Hogan

Ceist:

1 Deputy Phil Hogan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the recent Supreme Court decision in a case taken by the Competition Authority against the Irish League of Credit Unions which was lost by the authority; if the authority has made a contingency provision for the costs of the case; the impact that an award of costs against the authority will have on its work programme in view of the fact the award could absorb much of their annual budget; the location where additional funding for the authority will come from in the context of his Department’s other priorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19313/07]

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Micheál Martin)

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, guím gach rath ort i do chuid oibre as seo amach agus tá súil agam go mbeimid go léir in ann comhoibriú leat sa todhchaí.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Le cúnamh Dé.

Deputy Micheál Martin

It is great to be here, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, to congratulate you on your position and wish you every success. Not so long ago you were asking me the questions and on this occasion you are refereeing.

I am aware of this Supreme Court decision which arises from the first ever court decision in an abuse of dominance case brought by the Competition Authority.

Following a full hearing of the issues, the High Court found in favour of the Competition Authority in October 2004. The High Court's decision was appealed to the Supreme Court by the Irish League of Credit Unions, ILCU. In May 2007 the Supreme Court overturned the High Court's judgment that the ILCU had abused its dominant position in the market for savings protection for members' deposits in credit unions. This case was the first time the Supreme Court was called upon to adjudicate on a substantive issue in Irish competition law and as such sets an important precedence for competition law.

Elements of the question referring to a contingency provision for the costs of the court case and the impact of the costs on the authority's work programme relate to operational matters for the Competition Authority. The authority is the independent statutory body responsible for the enforcement of competition law in the State. Its mandate and functions are set out in the Competition Act 2002, as amended. In particular section 29(3) of that Act provides that the authority shall be independent in the performance of its functions.

However, I understand that as of yet, no award as to costs has been made in this case. In the event of an award of costs being made against the Competition Authority, I understand it intends to absorb as much of those costs as possible from within its own budget without impacting on its work programme. Any request by the authority for additional funding will be considered at that time in the context of the Department's extant priorities.

Deputy Phil Hogan

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I wish to congratulate you on your appointment. It is my first opportunity to do so. I was familiar with your previous role and I was delighted that we could work together on that occasion, and I look forward to working with you in your new position.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Go raibh maith agat.

Deputy Phil Hogan

The motivation behind the question is to ask the Minister for observations he might have on the Competition Authority taking on a voluntary group like the Irish League of Credit Unions at a time when there are many areas where there are anti-competitive practices and where there is probably a more urgent role to establish precedent in anti-competitive practices. The fact that a voluntary organisation like the credit union movement would be singled out by the Competition Authority for such action would indicate there is a motivation of which I am not aware and on which perhaps the Minister might be able to throw light.

Would the Department be asked for advice by the Competition Authority at any stage about priorities in anti-competitive practices? I am also conscious that the total budget of the Competition Authority is approximately €5 million and the costs associated with this case will run in excess of €2 million. What will happen the other parts of the work programme of the Competition Authority arising from those figures? If the Minister is concerned about it, what action will he take?

Deputy Micheál Martin

Let us get matters straight. The 2002 Act set up the Competition Authority as a statutory independent body. The Oireachtas, including Deputy Hogan, took that decision on the basis that it probably came to the conclusion that political interference in the operational work of the authority would carry significant hazards and could compromise the authority to an unacceptable degree in the context of performing its work and achieving its objectives. Therefore, the Department does not advise the Competition Authority on how it should go about its work. To do so would, in essence, contravene the Act.

I understand from where Deputy is coming. We all have good relations with the Irish League of Credit Unions. We are studying the detail of the case and in that regard we may make observations known to the Competition Authority, but it is equally important to point out there is an impression going around that is all the authority has been doing. It is worth pointing out that criminal prosecutions for breach of the 2002 Act were brought by the DPP based on extensive investigative work carried out by the authority. In 2006, for example, 15 criminal convictions were secured on behalf of the authority while to date in 2007 three further convictions have been obtained, with another three cases before the court. There are no legal cost implications for the authority in the case of these criminal prosecutions, which are included in the DPP's budget. These ground breaking convictions are the first criminal convictions by jury in respect of breach of competition law in Europe and the other jurisdictions are looking to Ireland and the authority's criminal enforcement record as a result.

Over the past year or so Deputy Hogan was strong on this issue of whether there had been any criminal convictions. The evidence is clear that there have been. I note he seems to have a consistently negative perspective on the Competition Authority but unless he is suggesting we change the statute and remove the authority's independence, I will not interfere or breach the law as it stands.

Deputy Phil Hogan

I would not expect the Minister to say anything other than that I have a negative view of the Competition Authority but that is not the case. I have a positive view of the authority. The Minister stated he does not interfere in the role of the Competition Authority, in other words, he does not give it any leadership, but he also stated he would be happy to make observations about particular matters to the Competition Authority. I ask him to make an observation and take into account the observation I now make. The total budget and resources of the Competition Authority is €5 million. There will be €2 million to €2.5 million used up on this case in costs. What will the Minister do, in terms of his observations to the Competition Authority, to ensure its work programme is completed and that that is done independently, as I agree it should be independent?

Deputy Micheál Martin

Does Deputy Hogan accept that?

Deputy Phil Hogan

I always did and I do not know where the Minister got the other impression. I am trying to ensure the Minister has sufficient resources given to the Competition Authority to do its job and not to be taking on the little people like the Irish League of Credit Unions — there are plenty of others. Will the Minister be making an observation on the judicious use of Competition Authority resources in the future?

Deputy Micheál Martin

Deputy Hogan needs to be clear on where he stands. He cannot ask if the Minister will advise the authority and give leadership to it, and almost in the same sentence suggest the Minister should not become involved and should remain independent.

Deputy Phil Hogan

The Minister stated he would make observations.

Deputy Micheál Martin

Deputy Hogan has criticised the fact the authority has taken on the Irish League of Credit Unions. I stated we are studying the Supreme Court judgment. It is only by its careful consideration that one could make observations in terms of future actions.

The authority is independent. We should equally point out that many settlements are made before the proceedings ever get to court, when companies or various interested parties agree to settle or to remedy their anti-competitive behaviour. There is no great desire to force cases through to the High Court and to the Supreme Court because that clearly involves risks, of which no doubt the Competition Authority is as much aware as anybody else, but given the nature of the independent authority we established to endeavour to create a greater competitive environment in Ireland, it is inevitable there will be risks associated with pursuing some of these issues through the courts. People in other sectors need to know the authority is prepared to go that route even if it must make judgments along the way.

Deputy Phil Hogan

So there are enough resources.

Departmental Offices.

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

2 Deputy Ruairí Quinn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the action taken by his Department and its agencies to date to ensure maximum energy efficiency and minimum carbon footprint in their daily operations; the cost of these actions; the steps he will take in the second half of 2007 toward the goal of reducing energy consumption in his Department and its agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19202/07]

Deputy Micheál Martin

To reduce energy consumption in the Department and to ensure maximum energy efficiency and the minimum carbon footprint in its daily operations, my Department, through its green team which was established some years ago, continues to implement the following actions——

Deputy Phil Hogan

That is, only a few weeks ago.

Deputy Micheál Martin

——ensure all lighting in the Department's eight buildings is switched off overnight; ensure the Office of Public Works, which looks after the replacement of electric light bulbs in my Department's buildings, uses energy-efficient bulbs and long-life bulbs wherever possible when electric light bulbs are being replaced; ensure the central heating arrangements for the Department's buildings are switched on and off to achieve optimum energy efficiency; and ensure the staff in the Department switch off all their computer equipment — base units, monitors and peripheral devices — at the end of each working day, switch off their PC monitors at lunchtime and while attending meetings etc and ensure the last person leaving each individual office switches off all electric lights, printers, photocopiers and heaters.

These initiatives have had no adverse cost implications for my Department and have resulted in energy cost savings that are impossible to quantify. My Department will continue to monitor its energy consumption and will, where practicable, continue to implement steps to ensure maximum energy efficiency and the minimum carbon footprint in the daily activities of the Department.

Agencies under the remit of my Department are conscious of the need to achieve a high level of energy efficiency. Ensuring maximum energy efficiency and minimum carbon footprint in their daily operations is an operational issue for the agencies concerned. Although there is no formal policy in place in respect of energy efficiency in most of the agencies, a number of them have undertaken efficiency surveysand carbon footprint audits to ensure efficiency measures are met. Most of the agencies have not isolated the cost of minimising the carbon footprint in their daily operations.

A number of buildings occupied by agencies are leased and therefore the agencies have no direct control of the efficiency measures applied at the time these buildings were originally fitted out. However, newer premises either leased or bought will have stipulated sustainable energy efficiency measures such as optimising heating and lighting controls and water saving measures in their fit-out requirements. Waste recycling is also standard practice throughout all buildings occupied by the agencies.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

My Department and its agencies operate a travel pass scheme encouraging staff members to use public transport in both working and leisure hours, thus assisting in reducing the level of carbon emissions. Official travel in my Department is governed by the regulations on travel and subsistence issued civil and public sector wide by the Department of Finance, and provide that staff must use public transport when travelling on business, where practical.

Official travel in the agencies under the remit of my Department is appraised and monitored by each agency to ensure that travel is restricted to necessary journeys only. Wherever feasible, staff of agencies use public transport when travelling on official business. Video conference and conference calls facilities are utilised to avoid the need for official travel, where appropriate. My Department and its agencies keep appraised of new communications technology in an attempt to further reduce the need for staff to travel.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

I am conscious of time but I officially congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his appointment. This is the first occasion I have had to do so.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Injury time will be provided so that it does not impact on the Deputy's speaking time.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

I also congratulate the Minister and his team, including the Minister of State, Deputy Billy Kelleher, whose appointment is long overdue. This is clearly a case of Cork versus the rest of the country in terms of the ministerial turnout. They should all be wearing red ties, if not red jerseys.

I appreciate that it is early in the season of replies but I invite the Minister to read his reply in the privacy of his office and realise what nonsense it is. He states that he cannot possibly measure the impact of energy savings. Turning off those machines is clearly a waste of time if one cannot measure the outcome of it. One can look at a bill, as any sensible householder would, and see the impact of turning off all the PCs by comparing what the bill was before. This is the new reality for all of us and I invite the Minister to reconsider, before we get back to real politics in September, measures by which we can quantify the impact of carbon footprint. If the Department cannot identify and measure the cost reductions it is not in the real business of addressing the question of energy conservation. The Minister has responsibility for the relative agencies and leasehold of buildings. That agencies do not have responsibility for heating because they have leased a building is a cop-out. They have responsibility for energy conservation.

I must adjust my observations about the all-Cork turnout now that Deputy McGuinness has arrived. I congratulate Kilkenny on beating Wexford last week. It was atour de force.

If we are serious about the issue, which is equivalent to gender equality in the past decade, we need measurement and efficiency. Systems of analysis, measurement, monitoring and quantifying of cost savings must be improved. The reply leaves much to be desired.

Deputy Micheál Martin

It is easy to make points like that but before I arrived in the Department a green team of officials had been set up to support a green officer. We may look flippantly at issues such as turning off lights but it is recognised in research that enormous savings can be made. I take Deputy Quinn's point about quantifying it but I do not know the baseline from a few years ago. The Power of One campaign was launched by another Department. If everyone took incremental steps in terms of energy efficiency, much would be achieved.

IDA Ireland is very conscious of the need to achieve the highest level of energy efficiency in its operations. It introduced a number of energy conservation measures last year following receipt of an environmental audit by the head lessee of the building. Waste recycling is standard practice in all Enterprise Ireland offices. The agency is taking a range of actions through a building management system that optimises heating and lighting control. The maintenance of this equipment costs €6,000 per annum. Water saving measures are taken in all rest rooms. It is moving to one building in Dublin from four buildings.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

A sensible decision.

Deputy Micheál Martin

Yes. As part of the fit-out of the new offices, Enterprise Ireland engaged sustainability consultants, including a specialist from Sustainable Energy Ireland. A feasibility study is being carried out by Sustainable Energy Solutions under the headings of environmental strategies, energy utilisation and development of advanced building management system. This seeks to achieve the broad public sector target of 33% energy saving by pursuing an energy efficiency programme with targets and standards. A later question will deal with further points in this regard.

Economic Competitiveness.

Phil Hogan

Ceist:

3 Deputy Phil Hogan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the comments by a person (details supplied) expressing concerns that the increasing burden of regulation and compliance is threatening to suppress the entrepreneurial drive and flair that have facilitated economic growth and development; the measures he is taking to address concerns regarding regulatory burden; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19314/07]

Deputy Micheál Martin

National and international surveys indicate that the administrative burden or red tape factor of regulation on business is not particularly onerous in Ireland. In a recent ESRI survey, over half of businesses stated that the level of regulation in their sector was about right. However, it is important we ensure that regulation remains balanced between cost and benefit and that we constantly strive to keep the administrative cost to the minimum. I intend to give strong commitment and leadership to reduction of regulation over the coming years.

On 8 March the Department of the Taoiseach published the results of an ESRI survey of business attitudes to regulation. At the same time the Taoiseach stated that the Government had agreed to put in place a new mechanism to tackle administrative burdens arising from national legislation in a targeted way. The Government also agreed that I should lead a Government-wide effort to drive this agenda. I have asked the Secretary General of my Department to chair a high level group representative of Departments, agencies, the business sector and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to examine ways of reducing the administrative burden of regulations on the business sector. The intention is to bring the regulating Departments and agencies into direct contact with business representatives and the focus initially will be on areas that seem to be causing the biggest burden of form-filling, returns, reports, statistics etc.

The areas that this work will initially focus on have been decided based on the work of the business regulation forum, whose report I launched on 25 April, and the ESRI survey of business attitudes to regulation. These areas are taxation, health and safety, environmental regulation, statistical reporting and employment and company law. We will concentrate on these areas rather than taking a broad-brush approach. To further this work, my Department recently conducted two workshops with business people to discuss specific concerns. The outcome of these workshops will be fed directly into the work of the high level group.

Deputy Phil Hogan

The comments the Minister is responding to are those of Mr. Seán Fitzpatrick, chairman of Anglo Irish Bank. He made the comments three weeks ago and was scathing of the difficulties emerging for small and medium sized businesses in terms of entrepreneurial flair and the business regulatory burden in Ireland. I acknowledge that the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, made a start in dealing with these issues, such as VAT exemption. The Minister was against VAT exemption levels being raised but changed his mind.

Deputy Micheál Martin

Deputy Hogan is wrong. I was never against it.

Deputy Phil Hogan

The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, can fill in the Minister. The Government was against it but it changed its mind. The Minister changed his mind a good deal with regard to regulatory burden.

Deputy Micheál Martin

The election is over.

Deputy Phil Hogan

Some 80 forms must be filled annually by medium sized companies. This is crazy and I ask that the Minister provide a timescale for when reform will be implemented.

Deputy Micheál Martin

I worked quickly on this. The audit exemption thresholds that the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, and I worked on was raised from €1.5 million to €7.3 million and from €1.9 million to €3.65 million in terms of turnover and balance sheet respectively.

Deputy Phil Hogan

The Government voted it down originally.

Deputy Micheál Martin

Many companies have benefited from it and have articulated gratitude. The small business forum, which I established, came up with practical recommendations for small businesses. As a result of that and in consort with my colleague, the Minister for Finance, as the Deputy has graciously acknowledged, significant measures were introduced in budget 2007 which reduced the administrative burden on small business in regard to payment of corporation tax, preliminary tax, and the requirement for a tax clearance certificate by increasing current thresholds which trigger such requirements, and also increasing the VAT on cash accounting and VAT registration turnover thresholds from 1 March 2007 to simplify administration and reduce working capital requirements on small business.

I accept we have to be clear and committed in terms of reducing the regulatory burden. I invite Deputy Hogan to approach me at any stage in the coming weeks or months if he has any specific areas he feels could lend themselves to change. I will have an open door and will give credit where it is due.

Deputy Phil Hogan

That will be a change for the Minister.

Deputy Micheál Martin

I will act. What we have done with the new high level group is to bring together the regulatory body in the Taoiseach's Department with the business regulation forum. We have endeavoured to do something like a clearing house similar to the financial services clearing house to buy in from the different sectors. We will take a sectoral approach and get early results to reduce the burden. The Companies Consolidation and Reform Bill will be a significant measure in terms of the simplification of company law and making it more accessible and facilitative for emerging new and small companies.

Deputy Phil Hogan

I omitted to welcome the new Ministers of State, Deputies Kelleher and McGuinness, to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. They join with the other members of the Cork team in the Department. I wish them well in their term of office. From what I hear, there is plenty of work to be done in terms of the Companies Consolidation and Reform Bill.

Deputy Micheál Martin

Once we get over September.

Deputy Michael Ahern

The first Sunday specifically.

Deputy Phil Hogan

The reason the chairman of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc decided to make those comments was that in 2001 the Taoiseach was briefed on better regulation for businesses. Since then we have not seen much action. The Minister has set up a high level group, which I acknowledged. The Minister for Finance did a few things in the budget in line with suggestions we have been making on this side of the House for a while. I acknowledge the good start that has been made but some issues, which relate to competitiveness and regulation, go back as far as 2001. Six or seven years is long enough to be waiting for change on common sense issues. Will the Minister revisit the better regulation document and indicate whether it is now relevant to dealing with regulation issues relating to small business or whether he has a new agenda?

Deputy Micheál Martin

A substantial part of my agenda is contained in the business regulation forum's report, which I launched on 25 April. We will also draw from the work of the ESRI survey of business attitudes to regulation. They are important inputs into the work of the high level group.

It is also worth putting on record that the World Bank's report, Doing Business in 2006, ranked Ireland tenth out of 175 countries in terms of the ease of starting and running a business. The World Economic Forum's Global Competiveness Report 06-07, showed that Ireland compared favourably on a number of regulatory indicators. The International Institute for Management Development, IIMD, competitiveness scoreboard for 2006 showed that Ireland compared favourably on a number of regulatory indicators including ease of doing business. I wish to put that on record. There is a tendency to overdo it in this country in terms of negative commentary about everything, including competitiveness etc. We need a balanced debate on these issues.

Deputy Phil Hogan

So it is not an issue.

Deputy Micheál Martin

I am clear that it is a significant core priority of mine in the future, as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, because I want to keep Ireland competitive. I want to keep us where we are currentlyvis-à-vis the European Union 25 in terms of entrepreneurial activity and the number of start-ups in this country. I stand to be corrected, but I believe we came second to Poland last year. There has been a change in mindset in entrepreneurialism in Ireland for some time and we want to keep it that way.

There is a significant train coming down the track in terms of EU directives from Brussels and we need to be clever in our transposition of those directives.

Energy Conservation.

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

4 Deputy Ruairí Quinn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the carbon footprint of his Department to date in 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19203/07]

Deputy Micheál Martin

To minimise the carbon footprint of my Department in its daily operations, the Department through its green team, which was established some years ago, has over the past few years initiated a range of actions which I outlined in a previous reply so I will not repeat them.

The Department also operates a travel pass scheme for interested members of staff in order to encourage staff to use public transport in lieu of car transport.

No formal carbon auditing has been undertaken by my Department but being conscious of our obligations to the environment the steps mentioned above have been implemented in recent years. I intend to put in place measures to audit carbon output performance. We will continue to monitor energy consumption and to implement steps to minimise the carbon footprint of the Department in its daily activities. We are complying with the appropriate provisions in the National Climate Change Strategy 2007-2012 and in the new programme for Government.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

I take it the Minister's reply is "I don't know. We have no way of calculating it but we are going to try and establish a method of so doing." I welcome that promise to do better. I will table a question in due course to measure how much progress the Minister makes.

Deputy Micheál Martin

I appreciate the question, which is a good one. In going through the preparation for this reply——

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

The Minister has not answered the question.

Deputy Micheál Martin

It is a great question. What is a carbon footprint audit? Does Deputy Quinn know?

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

The Minister is in government.

Deputy Micheál Martin

Does Deputy Quinn know?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Minister should respond to questions rather than pose them.

Deputy Micheál Martin

I am responding in the form of a rhetorical question.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

I asked the question. What is the answer?

Deputy Micheál Martin

Surely I am entitled to respond in the form of a rhetorical question, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Minister should be giving information rather than seeking it.

Deputy Micheál Martin

There are a number of definitions in the prepared script.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

The Minister's new Green Party colleagues will give him those.

Deputy Micheál Martin

I work with my Green Party colleagues. I accept Deputy Quinn's point. The Department's carbon footprint is not known. There are different ways of measuring it. Different methods of calculation are used both nationally and internationally.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

Agree a system and do it.

Deputy Micheál Martin

We will have to agree a model. Equally, I accept there is a lack of comprehensive data on energy consumption in public sector buildings generally, not just in our Department. I suspect that is the case across the public sector.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

I refer the Minister to the Building Control Act 2007.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy will have a chance to respond.

Deputy Micheál Martin

The collation of specific data will be essential for developing a greater understanding of future progress in reducing emissions from this sector. We anticipate responding to further questions on this matter later in the year.

Employment Rights.

Phil Hogan

Ceist:

5 Deputy Phil Hogan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when it is proposed that the National Employment Rights Agency will be fully operational; when he will be appointing board members to the agency; the full extent of funding it will receive from his Department; when employees will first notice its presence and operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19315/07]

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher)

I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his new appointment. I also wish Deputy Byrne and Deputy Sherlock who are new Members of the House longevity here. I thank the Deputies opposite for their kind words.

The Government is committed to delivering the key——

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

There are a couple more new Members behind the Minister of State also.

Deputy Billy Kelleher

I have congratulated them already. I wish them well also.

The Government is committed to delivering the key package of measures agreed under the chapter dealing with employment rights and compliance in Towards 2016. In this regard, the necessary resources, both human and financial, are being provided to ensure effective delivery. The National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, has been established on an interim basis with Department of Finance sanction for 141 staff, including an increased complement of 90 labour inspectors, and an allocation of €8.553 million provided for under Vote 34 for 2007. The advisory board to assist NERA in its role will be appointed by the end of the year.

The director of NERA was appointed and took up duty on 12 February 2007. The director is supported in his role by a management team and administrative staff. The management team and administrative staff are now substantially in place. Three units which were formerly part of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, have been subsumed into NERA — the employment rights information unit, the labour inspectorate and the prosecution-enforcement unit. All NERA staff are currently located in Dublin but as part of the Government decentralisation programme, NERA will have its headquarters in Carlow. Work on the Carlow premises is at an advanced stage and will be completed and ready for occupation by the end of July 2007. I am sure the Deputy opposite will be delighted with this aspect of the decentralisation process.

The social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, provided that the labour inspectorate, now part of NERA, would be established on a regional basis and that the number of labour inspectors would be progressively increased from 31 to 90 by the end of 2007. In this regard, the new regional structure of the labour inspectorate has been announced and in addition to inspectors located in NERA headquarters in Carlow, regional offices of the labour inspectorate will be located in Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Sligo. In consultation with the OPW, considerable progress has been made in identifying suitable properties for these regional locations.

Recruitment of the additional labour inspectors is also progressing. The number of labour inspectors has increased from 31 to 37 and advertisements have been placed in national newspapers since 10 June to recruit a further ten labour inspectors with language skills. The selection processes for recruitment of the remaining 43 have been agreed and the necessary arrangements are being finalised with a view to all assignments being made by the end of 2007.

In line with the commitment under Towards 2016, joint investigation and exchange of information activity has commenced with inspectors from the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The necessary legislative provisions to enable the exchange of information between the three bodies came into effect on 30 March with the enactment of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

An information provision and public awareness campaign is being actively planned and a series of meetings with stakeholders have been undertaken to initiate structured dialogue between the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, and stakeholders. The necessary legislation to give effect to the comprehensive package of measures concerning employment rights is being progressed and preparation of the employment law compliance Bill which is due to be published this year is in progress. NERA's key objective is to achieve compliance with employment rights legislation through information provision, carrying out inspections and enforcement and prosecutions when necessary.

Since 1 January the employment rights information unit has responded to 47,000 queries, while the labour inspectorate has carried out in excess of 4,500 calls, visits or inspections as part of its normal day-to-day operations, including two sectoral campaigns focused on specific employment sectors. In addition, 33 cases have been referred to the Chief State Solicitor's office with a view to initiating proceedings for breaches of employment rights by the employers concerned.

Deputy Phil Hogan

When will the board of the National Employment Rights Authority be appointed? What funding will be available to the authority in the current year? Will FÁS trainees or apprentices on construction sites etc be included? Will they be part and parcel of NERA's remit, given the history of the haphazard training of some such employees in the past, particularly in the construction industry?

Deputy Billy Kelleher

First and foremost, labour laws apply to all those in employment. Funding for a staff of 141 for NERA has been provided in a Vote. The advisory board will be set up towards the end of the year.

Deputy Phil Hogan

No board has been established yet.

Deputy Billy Kelleher

To clarify and ensure the Deputy receives all the information, the interim advisory board will be set up towards the end of the year. An independent chair will be appointed and there will also be social partnership provisions.

Deputy Phil Hogan

What is causing the delay in setting up the board? I ask because the director general was appointed last February and usually a board is appointed quickly on an interim basis on the appointment of a director general.

Deputy Billy Kelleher

The legislation to establish NERA on a statutory footing is in process and the advisory board will be in place to assist the authority. It will be appointed at the end of this year and will have an independent chair. Moreover, the social partners will also put forward representatives.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Wednesday, 4 Jul 2007