The Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012 which transposes EU Directive 2008/104/EC into Irish law was enacted on 16th May 2012.  The aim of the Directive and legislation is to provide protections for agency workers and to ensure that they will be treated the same as permanent workers in respect of basic working and employment conditions.   While the legislation does not contain all of the safeguards that the INMO campaigned to have included, it nevertheless represents a significant step towards securing equal treatment for agency workers and is very much welcomed.