Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the recent call from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions for an overhaul of the industrial relations machinery here; his response to the call made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18016/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that Mr. David Begg, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, recently spoke on the subject of an overhaul of the system of industrial relations and employment rights. The evolution of employment rights legislation over a long period of time has led to the current system involving seven bodies and 25 Acts, which can be complex, with duplication of functions as well as divergences in procedures and remedies.

The Government has recognised these deficiencies and included a commitment in the programme for Government 2002-07 to establish a review group on the functions of the employment rights bodies. This was the first ever review of the role and relationships of the employment rights bodies and their adjudication and enforcement frameworks.

On 24 May I announced that the Government had agreed to a programme of action in response to the report and recommendations of the review group and my subsequent consultations with the various interested parties. I am confident that the programme of action will improve considerably the levels of customer service that the various employment rights bodies can offer to those using the dispute resolution services. It will also facilitate the simplification and modernisation of procedures, providing greater transparency and ease of access.

Our system of industrial relations is principally voluntary in nature. However, for situations where it is not the practice of an employer to engage in collective bargaining negotiations and where the internal procedures normally used by the parties have failed to resolve a dispute, the parties may avail of procedures set out in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001, as amended by the Industrial Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 and supported by the enhanced code of practice on voluntary dispute resolution. These amended procedures, which were agreed with the social partners in the Sustaining Progress agreement, contain two distinct strands for settling the issues in dispute, a voluntary procedure and a fall-back legislative procedure.

The consolidation of the large corpus of employment rights legislation, when coupled with the legislative proposals emerging from the work of the employment rights group which is to be established, will enhance the coherence and user-friendliness of the employment rights and industrial relations machinery and will be of benefit to all.