The Minister for Business and Employment, Gerald Nash TD, has reported progress on new legislation aimed at replacing the Registered Employment Agreement system (REAs).  

The Government recently approved the drafting of the legislation to provide for a revised legislative framework to replace REAs, following a judgement by the Supreme Court which effectively made such agreements invalid.

The legislation is particularly relevant to projects overseen by the Department of Education & Skills because of the five year programme of school building currently underway, which is valued at €2 billion.

Minister Nash said good progress has been made on the drafting of the legislation and that his top priority would be moving to the pre-legislative scrutiny stage next month. “We want to support a sustainable and competitive construction sector and I believe this legislation will assist in providing certainty for workers as well as businesses tendering for contracts.

“Skilled workers should be fairly remunerated for their work.  Employers should have certainty over labour costs.  We also want to ensure that Irish companies are not disadvantaged when tendering for contracts, including in the school building sector, because of an unlevel playing field or lack of clarity in the area” he said.

The new legislation will allow unions and employers to apply to the Labour Court to undertake a review of pay, pensions and sick pay for workers in a particular sector and make recommendations to the Minister for the making of an order in these areas.  It will also provide for flexibility in response to changing economic circumstances or changes in the make-up of a sector.