Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the statutes it is proposed that the new Office of Director of Employment Law Enforcement will have under its remit; if powers to obtain civil remedies in addition to criminal prosecution will be given to the new office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32061/06]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Social Partnership Agreement "Towards 2016" sets out a number of commitments with regard to employment standards and compliance including a commitment to establish an Office of the Director of Employment Rights Compliance (ODERC). The Office, which will assume the functions of the Labour Inspectorate and Employment Rights Information and Prosecution units of the Department, will be established through the enactment of primary legislation and will be led by a Director at senior management level.

The legislation establishing the ODERC, which will be published in 2007, will provide, among other matters, that certain existing primary and secondary employment rights legislation administered or enforced by the Department will, from a specified date and subject to such amendments as may be necessary to implement commitments under Towards 2016, be enforced by the ODERC.

That legislation will also introduce a number of new requirements of relevance to the ODERC. Existing arrangements in relation to the investigation by Labour Inspectors or authorised persons of particular employments in relation to employment rights and compliance will be strengthened. Provision will be made for investigations at the request of the Minister or on the ODERC's own initiative and for direct engagement by ODERC with the employer with a view to effecting timely resolution of cases. It is also proposed to provide for the publication of the outcome of investigations where this is in the public interest.

The revised arrangements will also provide that, in certain cases, the ODERC may take cases to the Courts with a view to securing convictions by way of prosecutions for summary or indictable offences, notwithstanding any redress actions that may be taken. Where the employer fails to make good the amounts of money which are owed to the employee under employment rights legislation redress will be obtained via the Rights Commissioner Service.

Provision will also be made for improved record keeping in order to protect workers' employment rights and to ensure consistency between statutory employment records and record keeping requirements for employers in relation to, for example, taxation and social welfare. Employers will have clear responsibilities in relation to the maintenance and production of up-to-date statutory records. Failure to do so will be a criminal offence subject to summary or indictable proceedings. Where redress proceedings in relation to non payment of statutory entitlements are being taken to the Rights Commissioners, Employment Appeals Tribunal, Labour Court or Court of Law, the onus of producing evidence of payments made or deductions from pay and hours worked will rest with the employer.

Statutory protection will be provided to an employee who, in good faith, has made a complaint to an appropriate authority, including to ODERC, against his or her employer under any employment rights provision and who is subsequently dismissed or otherwise penalised arising from the complaint.

In addition, the existing monitoring and inspection activity in relation to compliance in the electrical contracting sector will be strengthened by amending legislation to support new organisational arrangements while the ODERC will be empowered to join with the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Revenue Commissioners to work together in the Joint Investigation Units.

Finally, the successful implementation of the new system of employment rights compliance sets challenging targets for us all; the Government, employers, employees and the Social Partners alike. I am confident that we can all respond positively to these challenges and build a compliance model which will serve us well into the future.