The EU Court of Justice has ordered Ireland to pay €1.54 million to the European Commission over delays in introducing laws allowing for flexible working.
The commission referred Ireland to the court in January 2024 for failing to fully transpose an EU directive on work-life balance rights for parents and carers.
It asked the court to impose financial sanctions on Ireland.
The EU Work-Life Balance Directive, adopted in 2019, is designed to enable working parents and carers to better reconcile their professional and private lives.
The commission first sent a letter of formal notice to Ireland in September 2022 over concerns that it had not yet fully transposed the directive.
In subsequent correspondence in 2023, Ireland confirmed that the Work Life Balance Act had been enacted, but that a code of practice on the right to request remote or flexible working was still in the process of being drawn up.
Taking the view that that Ireland had still not complied with its obligations, the Commission brought the action to the EU Court of Justice in January 2024.
In March 2024, the Government brought the right to request remote or flexible work into operation and published a code of practice which was drawn up by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
Following this, the Government informed the Commission that the transposition of the directive could now be considered complete.
Consequently, the Commission withdrew its request to impose an additional penalty payment.
Ireland was accused of failing to fully transpose the directive for a period of 581 days, from the deadline for transposition in August 2022, to the time the Government met its obligations in March 2024.
Today, the EU Court of Justice found that Ireland had failed to fulfil its obligations under the directive.
The Government has been ordered to pay to the European Commission a lump sum in the amount of €1.54 million.
Ireland was also ordered to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission.
The Department of Children, Disability and Equality said it takes its responsibilities seriously regarding transposition of EU directives but added there were particular circumstances which led to delays in this case.
“The Department’s necessary focus on providing humanitarian assistance for Ukrainian refugees diverted staff resources from the process of transposing the Work Life Balance Directive in 2022,” a spokesperson said.
The Government’s decision to include a right to request remote working as part of the Work Life Balance Directive led to further delays.
“The European Commission initiated infringement proceedings against a majority of Member States, including Ireland, due to the late transposition of the Work Life Balance Directive,” the Department said.
“Today’s penalty is the minimum amount Ireland can be levied for the late transposition of a directive,” it added.
