Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

While I accept most of the Minister of State's arguments, the position remains unclear in respect of an application for a review of a decision once an industrial dispute ends. The Minister of State appeared to indicate that a mechanism would be available to allow a person to appeal a decision following a dispute but it was unclear what form it would take. He then referred to the use of applications for judicial review, which are not a satisfactory instrument for appealing decisions of this nature. Did I miss a link in the Minister of State's contribution? Will a person adversely affected by a decision who believes the appropriate authority wrongly interpreted a case have an opportunity, under the Civil Service code to which the Minister of State referred, to access an internal appeal process?

The only outstanding issue is the need to ensure that individuals have a reasonable right to question an interpretation which may have been taken by a superior in deciding that a person was involved in an industrial action. It appears that no proper appeal procedure is available after a decision has been taken.

See this speech in context