Written answers
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Department of Finance
Employment Rights
5:00 pm
Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 60: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the costs incurred to date by his Department and the taxpayer, including man hours, legal fees, compensation pay, travelling costs and other associated costs in pursuing cases against 92 members of IMPACT who have been seeking their entitlements under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 and the European directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13724/08]
Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is as follows.
| Department | Legal Fees | Compensation Payments Paid | Travelling Costs | Other | Total |
| € | |||||
| Agriculture and Food | Nil | Nil | 1,158 | Nil | 1,158 |
| Arts, Sport and Tourism | Nil | 25,000 | Nil | Nil | 25,000 |
| Communication, Marine and Natural Resources | Nil | 22,000 | Nil | Nil | 22,000 |
| Transport | Nil | 60,000 | Nil | Nil | 60,000 |
| Justice, Equality and Law Reform | Nil | 3,000 | Nil | Nil | 3,000 |
| Chief State Solicitors Office | 96,824 | Nil | 3,294 | Nil | 100,118 |
| Office of the Attorney General | Nil | Nil | 571 | Nil | 571 |
| Finance | Nil | Nil | 1,208 | Nil | 1,208 |
| Total | 96,824 | 110,000 | 6,231 | Nil | 21,3055 |
The costs incurred to date by the Department of Finance and the tax payer as requested by the Deputy are set out in the preceding table. The figures for the staff costs involved are not available. The relevant staff dealt with these issues as part of their day to day work and Departments did not task a dedicated resource to address these matters.
The Protection of Employees (Fixed-term Work) Act 2003 (the Act) applies to fixed term workers employed in the Civil Service. In accordance with the Rights Commissioner's decision published on the 3rd of February 2005, the Department of Finance instructed the employing Departments to pay the compensation amounts, in cases where the findings were not being appealed. This compensation amounted to €110,000 and a breakdown by Department is included in the table of costs above.
The decision to appeal to the Labour Court aspects of the Rights Commissioner's determination was taken following legal advice. It was considered necessary to clarify matters regarding the jurisdiction of the Rights Commissioner over alleged breaches that took place prior to the implementation of the Act and also issues of the interpretation of European Law. The determination also had implications for the legislation governing recruitment and appointments to the Civil Service which needed to be clarified. It should be noted that IMPACT the trade union representing the claimants also appealed aspects of the Rights Commissioners decision.
The Labour Court decided to refer a number of questions relating to the interpretation of European Law to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for clarification before proceeding to a full hearing of the cases. I understand that it is expected that the ECJ will be publishing its ruling on the questions on 15th April 2008.
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