Legislation is no closer on job agencies

FOUR months ago the Government promised the heads of legislation regulating employment agencies would be introduced within a month to six weeks.

Now Employment Minister Micheál Martin is unable to give any timeframe for the bill except to say the Government was committed to “this year”.

Mr Martin gave a number of reasons why the bill was not as yet anywhere near the statute books, including the fact that the Government did not want to “railroad” it through without agreement with the social partners.

In July, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), one of the main social partners, that Mr Martin would “engage intensively over the summer with the unions”.

However, yesterday Esther Lynch of ICTU said it had not had a single meeting with the minister on the issue since.

Speaking at the National Employment Rights Authority’s first national public awareness campaign, Mr Martin was asked toaddress the issue of equal employment rights for agency workers.

He said the Government had agreed legislation with ICTU and other social partners more than a year ago under the terms of Towards 2016, but the unions had then sought “additionality” on what was agreed.

Mr Martin said the Government had begun considering the issues raised, but the introduction of the legislation had been delayed by Europe, firstly because of its impact on the Services Directive, and then by the need to attend a Council of Ministers meeting on December 5 to discuss a European Agency directive. That meeting failed to reach agreement.

However, at the end of September, when the department would have been aware of the upcoming ministers meeting, and a full two months after the issues over the Services Directive were fully known, the minister’s department was able to tell the Irish Examiner the draft heads of the new legislation would be ready for perusal by the Dáil “within the next month to six weeks”.

Yesterday, that time frame was severely dented by the minister.

However, Ms Lynch said they had not heard a word from the minister since the Taoiseach’s promise at the ICTU conference.

“We are mystified because there has been no discussion with us.

“We are rapidly losing patience,” she said.