Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will go through this as quickly as possible. It is a technical point. The further Revised Estimate of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation's Vote arises due to the recent transfer of employment rights functions to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. The functional changes came into effect at the beginning of September. I understand that my officials have provided the committee with a short briefing note that sets out what is involved. I will list the main points.

Fourteen staff have moved from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation with the functions moving to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. With regard to the financial consequences, the transfer of the functions sees full-time pay and non-pay costs totalling just over €1.5 million gross moving from my Department's Vote to that of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Essentially, the €1.5 million is broken down into pay of €1.05 million for the 14 staff transferring and fees associated with the low pay commissioners, and €496,000 for non-pay. These moneys, through the further Revised Estimates, are reduced from the 2017 Revised Estimates allocation for the Vote of my Department. Obviously, there is a consequential increase in the Vote for the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, which also requires a further Revised Estimate to be considered and approved by the Oireachtas.

The subheads affected in the Vote of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation all pertain to expenditure under subhead C relating to regulation. The relevant subheads are C1, the pay budget, C2, the non-pay budget, C13, the Low Pay Commission, and C16, legal costs. With regard to the functions that have transferred, there is a suite of employment rights legislation - 12 Acts in all - in respect of which responsibility now rests with the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty. The committee has been provided with a list of the 12 Acts. I will not list them all here but members will be most familiar with the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 and the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005, the Protection of Employment Acts 1977 to 2014, the Payment of Wages Act 1991, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and the Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Act 2007. The legislative base also includes responsibility for the Low Pay Commission and its secretariat. Any operational or policy matters that fall under any of the listed items of legislation are now the direct responsibility of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Doherty.

With regard to EU and international arrangements, a small number of employment policy functions have moved, and these include the lead role in the EU ESCO Council, lead responsibility for the treaty-based employment committee, EMCO, and for Ireland's response input on the EU pillar of social rights. While these policy responsibilities have moved to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, responsibility for the employment rights enforcement element and related funding still lies with my Department, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation. This is in respect of the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court. I just had a meeting with Ms Oonagh Buckley from the Workplace Relations Commission and Mr. Kevin Duffy, former chairman of the Labour Court. The Workplace Relations Commission is 50 years in existence, for which I congratulate it. It is just one year since it moved to its new offices at Lansdowne House. It was wonderful to meet the staff there. We also have a small number of legacy cases - 80 or so - which are with the Employment Appeals Tribunal, which no longer accepts claims.

I will be happy to take questions from any member or the Chairman. The further Revised Estimate is fairly straightforward. It is technical.