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The Committee notes that the Government has not communicated a report in response to its earlier comments. It notes with interest, however, the detailed information supplied regarding the activities of the labour inspection in the annual report of the Ministry of Labour for 1997. With reference to its earlier comments, the Committee draws the attention of the Government to the following points.

Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee notes yet again that the role of the inspection services in resolving individual and collective labour disputes represents an overly large part of their activities in view of their main duties as defined in paragraph 1 of this Article. On the other hand, the statistics of visits to establishments by the inspectorate show a large drop for 1997, contrary to the intentions announced by the Government in its report for the period ending May 1997. The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply information on the measures taken to avoid, in compliance with paragraph 2 of the same Article, the activities regarding the resolving of labour disputes of the labour inspection services interfering with their primary duties.

Article 11, paragraphs 1(a) and (b) and 2. The Committee again requests the Government to supply information on all improvements in the material working conditions of inspectors as regards offices and equipment.

Article 13, paragraph 2(b). The Committee requests the Government to supply information on all steps taken to empower labour inspectors to take measures with immediate executory force in the event of imminent danger to the health or safety of workers.

Articles 10, 16 and 21. The annual report of the Department of Labour from 1997 does not specify, as required under Article 21(c), the number of workplaces liable to inspection. The Committee is therefore unable to evaluate the degree of application of Articles 10 and 16 and hopes that this information will be provided in the future annual reports of the labour inspection.