Labour inspectorate - New agency must be given teeth

THE principle of protecting workers’ rights, a major plank of the national partnership talks, would be significantly advanced by the creation of a new super-agency to replace the current ineffectual system.

Firm proposals to create such an agency or, alternatively, to beef up and possibly merge the combined resources of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and the Government’s labour inspectorate, are centre stage at the ongoing talks between employers and workers.

Resolving this key issue is now crucial to the success of these negotiations.

Fears that tens of thousands of Irish jobs could be in jeopardy were sparked by the controversial hiring of cheap foreign labour by Irish Ferries, a highly unpopular move that triggered a wave of public protest.

With tens of thousands of eastern Europeans working here, demands for greater protection for them were fuelled by the blatant exploitation of Turks by the Gama construction group on major State-funded projects.

Having witnessed the expression of anger during nationwide demonstrations, the coalition, with an eye on next year’s general election, is keen to keep workers onside. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is acutely aware of the explosive nature of this issue. As a result, he has placed significant priority in the partnership discussions on the questions of job displacement and workers’ rights.

Pushing this concept further, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has tabled the idea of a brand new and completely independent labour agency. While unions strongly favour the formation of a totally new agency, they have not discounted the possibility of a merger between the existing labour inspectorate and the HSA.

Whatever comes out of the current round of talks, it is essential to beef up the present labour regime which, even at full strength, will embrace only 31 inspectors.

Obviously, such a skeleton team is utterly inadequate for the daunting task of overseeing the interests of two million workers. Naturally, the current situation is more to the liking of employers than unions.

In contrast, the HSA boasts 100 inspectors but they are already working flat out. Between them, they carry out up to 14,000 workplace safety inspections annually.

The unions are convinced that a merger would only be feasible if the number of inspectors were doubled.

With labour inspectors constantly being side-tracked to other duties, it is unrealistic to expect such an overwhelmed organisation to operate effectively in an environment where, according to the unions, some unscrupulous employers cannot wait to jettison current agreements.

While the proposed super agency concept is only one of several possibilities, there are signs it may yet form part of an overall deal.

Arguably, to be fully effective, a new umbrella group would have to be independent of the Department of Enterprise. And to have any hope of policing and protecting the safety and rights of workers in a meaningful way, it must also be armed with extensive powers and sharp teeth.