Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 7: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she is satisfied with the resources available to the National Employment Rights Authority; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40922/09]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

NERA's activities can be divided into three major areas: Information services including to members of the public, employers and employees; Inspection services and, Legal services including enforcement and prosecution services.

Overall, NERA's staffing complement is down from the level of 132 which obtained at the end of December 2008 to 122 at the current time. The number of inspectors currently stands at 73 which is down from 80 at the beginning of 2009. In common with all public bodies, NERA are expected to show a reduction in costs for 2009 mainly as a result of efficiencies and lower staff costs. The introduction of a moratorium on recruitment and promotions in the public service by the Minister for Finance on 27 March 2009 has made it very unlikely that NERA will be able to increase staff levels for the foreseeable future.

In relation to its information activities, NERA provides a wide range of information in relation to employment rights to employers and employees through its website and Information Centre and also through publications, email and responses to written queries. Additionally, it has replied to over 10,000 emails, distributed over 18,000 employment rights publications and participated in 22 presentations and exhibitions.

In its Information Centre, there are currently 13.5 full-time staff taking calls and answering queries from members of the public. This is supplemented by 11 other trained staff who provide support at peak periods and other periods where extra resources are required. So far this year, NERA has answered over 127,000 telephone calls or an average of 560 per day on employment rights issues, which represents an increase of almost 37% on the same period in 2008.

Additionally, since April 2009 NERA took over responsibility for answering calls relating to redundancy claims on behalf of the Redundancy Payments Section of the Department and answered an estimated 76,000 redundancy related calls so far in 2009. This additional work undertaken on behalf of the Department now accounts for 60% of calls received.

The number of inspections visits and calls made for the year so far is 22,136 compared to 25,530 for the same period last year. This difference is mainly accounted for by the lower number of Inspectors operating in 2009. The figures also reflect the fact that there has been less of a focus on targeted sectoral campaigns this year as compared with 2008. In addition, in 2009 NERA commenced inspection activities in relation to compliance with the Employment Permits Acts 2003 and 2006. So far this year, a total of 708 Employment Permit inspections have been undertaken under this legislation.

In relation to its enforcement and prosecution activities, NERA has so far this year initiated court proceedings in 66 cases as compared with 44 in 2008 and proceedings have so far been concluded in 72.

In line with Government policy on advertising spend, NERA no longer has a budget for advertising and awareness campaigns. However, it has engaged in awareness-raising activity in cooperation with key stakeholders such as the Small Firms Association, IMPACT, IBEC, ICTU, the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, Chambers of Commerce, Enterprise Boards and Citizens Information Centres.