Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 January 2007
129 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on his Department’s work towards the implementation of Towards 2016 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2523/07]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am happy to report that my Department is making significant progress on commitments in Towards 2016. Work on the preparation of the necessary legislation to give effect to the comprehensive package of measures contained in the agreement concerning employment standards is being progressed as a matter of urgency. In addition, the additional resources identified under the agreement for compliance enforcement, adjudication and redress have been approved.
Preparation of the employment law compliance Bill is well advanced. Early consultation with the social partners and other interested parties is proposed as a prelude to seeking Government approval for drafting the Bill. I am committed to publishing the Bill in 2007.
The Director of the National Employment Rights Authority has been appointed and will take up duty on 12 February 2007. The advisory board will be established on an interim basis early in 2007. The headquarters management has been selected — some of them are already in place and the rest, including a legal adviser and accountant, will take up duty in the coming weeks. Recruitment and assignment of the remainder of the NERA staff will be progressed in the context of decentralisation arrangements with a view to the additional posts being filled from the second quarter of 2007. It is my intention that the trebling of Labour Inspectorate staff will be completed in 2007.
The protection of employment — exceptional collective redundancies — Bill is at an advanced stage of drafting. It will address cases of collective redundancies where specific situations apply and provide for the extension of unfair dismissals protection in situations where all employees are involved in dismissal following a strike. It is expected that the Bill will be published in a couple of weeks.
Draft legislative proposals to give effect to the commitments set out in Towards 2016 for the regulation of employment agencies and agency workers are at present the subject of discussion with the social partners. These discussions are nearing conclusion and it is intended that specific proposals will be considered by the Government during February. Subject to the Government's agreement, the proposals will then be sent to the Office of the Attorney General for drafting.
The Labour Relations Commission is finalising its work on the preparation of a code of practice for people working in other people's homes and it is expected that its work will be finalised within the next few weeks.
The Government is committed to preparing and publishing this year a Green Paper on pensions policy which will take account of the views of the social partners. There will be further consultations following publication and the Government is committed to respond to these within 12 months of ratification of Towards 2016 by developing a framework for comprehensively addressing the pensions agenda over the longer term.
The Government has agreed in principle in Towards 2016 to the transposition into Irish law of the optional pensions provision of the Transfer of Undertakings Directive and is committed to finalising its consideration of the issue by the end of 2007 following consultation with IBEC and ICTU on the implications of the options for transposition.
Work has commenced on the Green Paper and the issues arising in the context of transfer of undertakings. A partnership pensions review group, chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach and including the social partners and the Pensions Board, has been established to progress the issue.
On 29 November 2006, the Labour Court recommended that the minimum hourly rate of pay should be increased to €8.30 with effect from 1 January 2007 and to €8.65 with effect from 1 July 2007. By order signed on 20 December 2006, the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with responsibility for labour affairs gave effect to the court's recommendation.
New employment permit arrangements will come into effect on 1 February. The Employment Permits Act passed by the Oireachtas last year provides the statutory basis for the new schemes. The four new types of employment permit are the green card scheme, the work permit, the intra-company transfer permit and spousal and dependant permits. Workers under the new arrangements may apply and reapply for their own permits, with the exception of the intra-company transfer scheme.
Consultations took place with the social partners prior to the introduction of the new arrangements. The new arrangements provide that employment permit applications will not be approved for wages below the REA-ERO rate or the national minimum wage, whichever is appropriate.
New employment permits will contain a statement on the principal employment rights of the employee, including a prohibition from making any deductions from remuneration or seeking to recover any charge, fee or expense relating to the application for the permit. The new employment permit arrangements, in particular those relating to contracts for service supplied, will include provisions to ensure adequate safeguards to protect employment rights, including, in most cases, the requirement for employment by an Irish-based employer. Employment permit holders will be facilitated in transferring to another employment in cases of unfair treatment. The employment of non-EEA students will be made subject to employment permits in 2007. Work is under way to draw up a scheme to implement this.
Significant progress has also been made by my Department of other non-legislative workplace issues. In March 2005 a high level group was established to oversee implementation of the national workplace strategy. The first report of the implementation group which was sent to Government, was published on 3 August 2006. The report outlined the group's progress since its establishment. Achievements were noted under the strategy's five priority themes: promoting workplace innovation, promoting capacity for change, developing future skills, access to opportunities and quality of working life. Towards 2016 provides for the establishment of a three-year workplace innovation fund to enable the parties to the agreement and the NCPP to build a stronger commitment to workplace innovation by encouraging the development of new ways of working. On 10 January 2007, the Taoiseach announced that a sum of €9 million would be available to the fund. The fund comprises three strands as follows — promotion of innovation at enterprise level, support for capacity building among social partners and a public awareness campaign.
The research required to develop the national skills strategy provided for in Towards 2016 has been completed and will be published shortly. The review of the workplace learning and upskilling offerings available from the point of view of user friendliness-modularisation and future skills requirements among other things, is scheduled for 2007 and it may take the form of a number of sub-reviews. Towards 2016 also provides for the need to examine the availability of workplace learning and upskilling to lower skilled and vulnerable workers including in manufacturing as well as to workers from overseas. During the year my Department will invest nearly €70 million to train those already in employment. In addition, €130 million, a significant increase on last year's provision, has been made available to fund apprenticeship training programmes to cater for historically high numbers of apprentices. Under the NDP overall €2.8 billion in public funds will be invested in training people in employment, new skills for those affected by industrial restructuring, expansion and enlargement of the apprenticeship system and school leavers. Both FÁS and Skillnets have been asked to bring forward proposals to target low-skilled workers.
The high level group on manufacturing provided for under Towards 2016 has been established. Progress has been so rapid and extensive that I could go on forever. The first formal meeting of the group is scheduled to take place on 9 February 2007. The seventh framework programme, FP7, commenced on 1 January 2007. A new national support structure has been put in place to give practical effect to the stated Government priority on FP7. A key feature of the strengthened support structure was the appointment of a national director for FP7 who heads up a dedicated FP7 office based in Enterprise Ireland. The national director will ensure a co-ordinated approach is adopted in the provision of support to researchers and companies across all of the components of FP7.
Following the enactment of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2006, which revoked the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order 1987, I asked the Competition Authority to review and monitor developments in the grocery sector in light of the new regulatory environment. Since the removal of the order, the Competition Authority has received no complaints of anti-competitive behaviour in the sector, nor has it seen any evidence of such behaviour. The authority is currently putting its grocery monitor project in place. In April 2007 one year of post-groceries order data will be available for analysis. Later in 2007 the authority intends to publish an analysis of developments in the sector focusing on pricing trends, market structures and barriers to entry.
After ten years in office.
I refer to the labour inspectorate and the new national employment regulation authority, which is a key element of Towards 2016 because of the many concerns about abuses in the labour market. A total of 2.028 million are employed, which is a wonderful statistic, but fewer than 30 labour inspectors are in place to ensure workers and their employers comply with health and safety legislation and labour market regulation. When will the additional 60 labour inspectors be hired and deployed?
I am putting considerable pressure on the Department to move on this issue as quickly as possible. We are looking at putting the bulk of the staff in place in the second quarter of the year. The Deputy will appreciate recruitment processes must be engaged in but I am determined that the 60 additional inspectors will be appointed in 2007. The management team is almost in place. The director has been appointed and a legal adviser and accountant will be appointed in the coming weeks.
Where will they be based?
Carlow was the original location for the employment rights division of the Department but regional bases are also anticipated. That process has been completed and we are in a position to move on that. Inspectors will be recruited not only to the centralised agency but also to regional locations.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
