Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In moving the employment rights and minimum wage agenda to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, we are effectively aligning employee-based rights with the welfare to work agenda and focusing on ensuring that our policies encourage people into the workforce with fair terms and conditions. That Department has responsibility for Intreo, the national contact point for employment and income supports that also acts as a pathway to employment for many jobseekers.

My Department retains key functions and policies central to employment, including economic migration, industrial relations, health and safety in the workplace and the range of Government services available to workers and employers, such as those offered by the WRC and Labour Court.

There is no conflict in the fact that a function of my Department, through the WRC, is to enforce employment legislation when policy responsibility for employment rights resides with another Department. As the Deputy knows, the WRC is an independent statutory body that acts in a stand-alone manner in respect of workplace relations issues.

I am satisfied the separation of the function of policy responsibility for employment law from the function of enforcing that law will not impact in any way on the ability of employees to enjoy the full protection afforded by employment law. We will work closely with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to ensure that policy and enforcement functions operate in a manner that meets all of the expectations of employers and employees.

Following changes in departmental functions, certain responsibilities formerly within the remit of my Department have transferred to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. A schedule sets out the functions that have transferred to the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

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