Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware that, as part of the current reform of workplace relations services, the functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal will be transferred to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Labour Court in so far as first instance complaints and appeals, respectively, are concerned, with first instance complaints being referred to the WRC and appeals to the Labour Court. The Employment Appeals Tribunal will continue to function for a limited period after the establishment of the WRC to finalise complaints and appeals lodged before the commencement of the enabling legislation and will be dissolved on finalisation of these legacy cases. The objectives of the reform programme are to deliver a world-class workplace relations service which will be simple to use, independent, effective, impartial and cost-effective, provide for workable means of redress and enforcement within a reasonable period and reduce costs.

The Workplace Relations Bill, which returned to the Dáil this week, will make statutory provision for the new structures while also providing for a number of innovative measures including the use of compliance notices and fixed charge notices and the sharing of employment information between the WRC, the Labour Court and other official agencies and so on.

Significant progress has been achieved to date, in advance of the enabling legislation, to put in place the technological, structural, administrative and staffing changes required to underpin the workplace relations programme. I am pleased to say that some 19 new adjudication officers, selected for appointment following an open competition conducted by the Public Appointments Service, will shortly complete an accredited training programme. These adjudicators, together with the current cohort of equality officers and rights commissioners who will be appointed as WRC adjudicators, will be available for deployment on the establishment of the WRC. The adjudication resources at the disposal of the commission will, therefore, comprise a diverse group of experienced industrial relations and HR practitioners, employment lawyers and civil servants with appropriate skills and experience.

A key commitment in the workplace relations reform is to place the needs of users and stakeholders at the very core of service delivery and to reduce the administrative burden involved in customer interaction with the service.

See this speech in context