Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Ireland (Ratification: 1955)

Article 4 of the Convention. Promotion of Collective bargaining. Self-employed workers. The Committee recalls that the Competition (Amendment) Act No. 12 of 2017 grants an automatic exemption from the Competition Act 2002 to three categories of self-employed workers and that trade unions are entitled to apply for an exemption using the criteria set out for other classes of self-employed workers (false or fully dependent).

The Committee notes again the Government’s indication that to date there has been no application yet for an exemption under this section by any Trade Union. Recalling that it considers that the degree to which collective bargaining rights are assured to self-employed workers depends on the practical application of the Competition Act, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on its practical application.

Practical application of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015. The Committee takes due note of the updated information provided by the Government concerning in particular: (i) the amended Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2023; (ii) the Registered Employment Agreement registered in 2023 for Overhead Powerline Contractors; and (iii) the existence of Employment Regulation Orders in place for the Contract Cleaning, Security and Early Years’ Service JLCs. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the practical application of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 on the promotion of free and voluntary collective bargaining.

Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) Working Group on Collective Bargaining. The Committee further notes the information provided by the Government concerning the creation in 2021 of a Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) Working Group on Collective Bargaining, which published a Final Report in October 2022 making a number of administrative and legislative proposals for strengthening collective bargaining in Ireland. The committee notes that the working group took into account the draft text of the European Union (EU) Directive 2022/2041 on Adequate Minimum Wages, the definitive version of which indicates that each EU Member State in which the collective bargaining coverage rate is less than a threshold of 80 per cent should establish an action plan to promote collective bargaining to progressively increase the collective bargaining coverage rate. The Committee notes that the working group: (i) recognized the continued necessity to respect the autonomy of social partners in collective bargaining contexts; and (ii) issued recommendations for, inter alia, strengthening the functioning of the Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) which operate at the sectoral level and for encouraging good faith negotiations at the enterprise level. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the follow-up given to the recommendations of the LEEF Working Group on Collective Bargaining.