Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2025, Publicación: 114ª reunión CIT (2026)

Convenio sobre la inspección del trabajo, 1947 (núm. 81) - Irlanda (Ratificación : 1951)

Article 3(2) of the Convention. Additional duties entrusted to labour inspectors. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the role of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in relation to migrant workers in irregular situations, including in taking forward cases on their behalf, in accordance with the Employment Permits Act, 2003. In this respect, the Committee notes that, according to the report of the Government, the WRC has the authority, under the new Employment Permits Act, 2024, to take forward civil proceedings on behalf of unpaid or underpaid employees without an employment permit, provided they can demonstrate that they took all reasonable steps to regularize their status. In addition, the Government indicates that the WRC provides impartial information to both employees and employers, on the legislation governing employer obligations, employment rights and employment permits, among others. According to the 2024 annual report of the WRC, 81 per cent of prosecutions for cases of non-compliance with Employment Rights and Employment Permit legislation, were successful in 2024. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on: (i) the number of cases where the WRC has assisted migrant workers in irregular situations in civil proceedings under the Employment Permits Act, 2024, including on their outcomes; and (ii) any changes to the role of the WRC in enforcing migrant workers’ statutory rights, in practice, introduced following the entry into force of the Employment Permits Act, 2024.

Articles 10 and 16. Sufficient number of labour inspectors and adequate coverage of workplaces by labour inspection. Following its previous comments, the Committee welcomes the Government’s indication that the number of labour inspectors at the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has increased from 105 in 2020 to 142 in 2023, while the number of labour inspectors in the WRC increased from 52 in 2020 to 69 in 2024. The Government further indicates that it is currently recruiting an additional 10 inspectors in the WRC. The Committee further notes that the number of inspection visits conducted by both authorities has increased, from 3,943 in 2022 to 5,156 in 2024 for the WRC, and from 8,586 in 2021 to 10,713 in 2023 for the HSA. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the recruitment of new inspectors, with a view to ensuring that the number of labour inspectors is sufficient to secure the effective discharge of the duties of the inspectorate.

Articles 20 and 21. Annual labour inspection reports. Following its previous comments, the Committee observes that statistics of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein, as required under Article 21(c), continue to be absent from the annual reports of the HSA and the WRC. The Committee notes that such information appears to be partly available through the Central Statistics Office, as the Government indicates that, while data are unavailable for 2022 or 2023, there were 365,766 active enterprises recorded in 2021. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that statistics of workplaces liable to inspection and the number of workers employed therein will be included in future annual labour inspection reports (Article 21(c)). It requests the Government to indicate the measures taken in this regard.