Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 53 provides that any party to the decision of the Labour Court under the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, as amended, would be able to appeal that decision on a point of law only to the High Court, with the decision of the High Court to be final and conclusive. This amendment also provides for the standardisation of the relevant time limit applicable to refer an appeal to the High Court on a point of law in line with the corresponding provisions of amendment No. 44.

Amendment No. 52 is a drafting amendment consequential as a result of amendment No. 53. Amendment No. 66 provides for the insertion of a specific provision in the Unfair Dismissals Act to allow either party to a decision of the Labour Court on appeal under the 1977 Act to appeal the Labour Court's decision on a point of law to the High Court. Currently, there is no statutory provision for such an appeal under the Unfair Dismissals Act. This amendment also provides for the standardisation of the relevant time limit applicable to refer an appeal to the High Court on a point of law in line with the corresponding provisions of amendments Nos. 43 and 44.

The reason we are not encouraging appeals on points of law at an early stage is that it gives the stronger party an opportunity to go to appeal on a point of law early in a procedure. That would be contrary to what we are trying to achieve in terms of adjudication being a less legalistic arena and where people would have a better chance of getting a quick resolution of concerns.