Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

There are two elements to the proposal, one of which is consolidation of the legislation. It is an important job, which, I understand, will take 18 months to two years. It is worth doing in any event. The original proposal was for the amalgamation of the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Labour Court, but it did not find a lot of favour. Following Mr. Bonner's review, it was felt that a more appropriate mechanism would be to refer cases in the first instance to a rights commissioner and, subsequently, on appeal, to the Employment Appeals Tribunal, as appropriate. That system serves the function of which Deputy Hogan extols the value, effectively providing a one-stop-shop for the person initiating a claim. It brings considerably more clarity to the entire system.

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