The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has this week welcomed the Irish Government’s ratification of an International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention on domestic workers’ rights, hailing it as “a major advance for domestic workers and their right to decent work.”

Congress legislation and legal affairs officer Esther Lynch said a “coordinated and intensive” campaign had moved the Government. “Ratification of the convention will help ensure that domestic workers enjoy a right to decent work, and the Irish Government can now be held accountable for upholding that right at the ILO,” she said.

The ILO is a United Nations body made up of representatives of unions, employers and governments.