Mr. Dermot Mulligan:

I thank the Deputy. We are looking at the number of grounds, the wording of the grounds and the grounds for appeal. They all function together in an integrated way. It is probably less important what the number of grounds are and more important what the wording is and what the sense of all of this is. The grounds are there at one level as indicative but not exclusive.

With regard to the right to appeal to the WRC, as I mentioned we are trying to find a balance in the employer-employee relationship and to find the right balance so the employee has the right to request and the employer has the right to refuse if there are reasonable grounds. This is the balance we are trying to strike.