John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

At the outset, I welcome the very good news that the Vita Cortex workers have voted to accept a proposal in respect of outstanding redundancy payments.

I listened with interest to the debate on the Bill. In the current economic environment, the plight of employees is a matter of major significance for the Government. We remain committed to ensuring that protections for workers are both relevant and capable of being vindicated. This is the focus of the Government's approach. As the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, indicated, Sinn Féin's Bill, while well intended, would offer no practical improvements to the plight of workers. Instead, it would impose an unreasonable and unnecessary constraint on employers and employees and would serve only to shackle our efforts to respond to the increasingly sophisticated demands of industry and labour market requirements.

The provisions contained in the Bill would be of no relevance in the context of the most of the recent high-profile cases to which Sinn Féin and other Members. As the Taoiseach has stated, at the heart of the many of these disputes is the absence of dignity toward workers. Regrettably, it is not possible to legislate for a requirement that employers should behave decently and fairly in respect of the way they treat their employees.

I wish to address some of the issues that have arisen in the course of the debate. The workplace relations reform project, which has been referred to on several occasions, is one of the most significant initiatives undertaken by my Department in recent years. It represents a major transformation of the means through which employment rights are communicated, enforced and, ultimately, vindicated. As well as providing for the amalgamation of the five existing employment rights bodies into an integrated and simplified two-tier structure, the reform project will amend existing redress procedures to ensure the more timely hearing of cases and the clear communication of decisions. This project will result in a better service for employers and employees at a significantly lower cost to the Exchequer. The bodies involved in the process are the Labour Relations Commission, LRC, the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, the Employment Appeals Tribunal, EAT, the Labour Court and the Equality Tribunal. It is reasonable that a project of such significance will take some time to complete. Notwithstanding this consideration, however, I am pleased to note that the project has already achieved some significant administrative improvements that provide real benefits to users.

I am pleased to report that the significant legislative programme required to deliver the structures and processes relating to the implementation of workplace relations reform is at an advanced stage of development. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, who unfortunately cannot be present because he is on a trade mission to America, hopes to seek a Government decision for the priority drafting of the workplace relations Bill for enactment this autumn.

The number of cases that have arisen in recent times in respect of companies which are becoming insolvent and which are not engaging in timely and adequate dialogue with their employees is regrettable. I appreciate that businesses are under considerable pressure but this should not be used as an excuse for treating employees in a shabby manner. The Government has an expectation that all employers should act in good faith and should treat their employees with the dignity and respect they deserve.

In the context of the European Commission's audit of directives relating to collective redundancies, the transfer of undertakings, the protection of employees and information and consultation - to which reference was made earlier in the debate - the position is that work in this regard is at an early stage. The first meeting of national experts from member states will take place during the summer and my Department is ready to actively engage in the process as required.

The issue of backlogs was also raised. The current position with regard to the workplace relations bodies is as follows: NERA has no inspection backlog; the Rights Commissioner Service has no backlog in respect of hearings; the Labour Court is working on the basis of a reduced backlog of three months; and the average waiting time for claims to the EAT to be heard is 76 weeks in Dublin and 80 weeks elsewhere. The EAT has been proactive in dealing with the volume of cases presented. It increased the number of cases finalised in 2011 by 11% above the number for 2010. The latter was itself an increase of 29% on the figure for 2009. The number of claims disposed of to end March 2012 continued to show an increase. While various short-term steps have been taken to address these issues, a more comprehensive solution will be addressed in the context of the workplace relations reform project.

In respect of redundancy payments administered by the Department of Social Protection, I can confirm that the current backlog is 16,000 and not, as some Members indicated, 29,000.

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