Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Question 42: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps being taken to address the backlog of cases within the Labour Court, the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the National Employment Rights Authority. [20906/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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When I came into office last year I identified the need to reform the State's workplace relations structures and procedures as a key priority. The problems had been well documented and the issues had been extensively reviewed over many years. The system was so complex that even practitioners had difficulty understanding and accessing it. There were, and in some cases still are, long delays scheduling hearings and further delays in issuing decisions. This is not an acceptable level of service.

The current situation with regard to the workplace relations bodies is as follows:

Ø The National Employment Rights Authority has no inspection backlogs

Ø The Rights Commissioner Service has no backlogs in respect of hearings

Ø The Labour Court are now working within a reducing backlog of three months

Ø The average waiting period for claims to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) to be heard is 76 weeks in Dublin and 80 weeks elsewhere.

The EAT has been pro-active in dealing with the volume of cases presented. The Tribunal has increased the number of cases finalised in 2011 by 11% against the previous year, this in itself being a 29% increase on 2009. The number of claims being disposed of to end March 2012 continues to show an increase.

While various short-term steps have been taken to address these delays, my long term objective is to deliver a world-class Workplace Relations service and framework that serves the needs of employers and employees and provides maximum value for money.

The Reform Programme I have commenced will deliver a two tier Workplace Relations structure by merging the activities of the National Employment Rights Authority, the Labour Relations Commission, the Equality Tribunal and the first instance functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Labour Court into a new Body of First Instance, to be known as the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The appellate functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal will be incorporated into an expanded Labour Court.

My aim is to provide a simple, independent, effective, impartial, cost effective and workable means of redress and enforcement, within a reasonable period of time. The system must operate to the highest standards and earn the confidence of employers, employees and all who will use it.

All WRC hearings will be conducted by a single person. The objective of the hearing will be to obtain a just, fair, speedy and efficient resolution of a dispute. The system will be configured in a way that facilitates early resolution of disputes and should remove the risk of lengthy delays for hearings or other services developing.

Substantial progress has already been made and a number of important priority actions that I identified last July have been successfully delivered within the target timescale. These include the establishment of a single contact portal called "Workplace Relations Customer Services" which provides a single point of entry into the system for workplace relations complaints and information. Complaints are now acknowledged and the employer is notified within, on average, five working days of the complaint being lodged which increases the likelihood of employers and employees resolving issues sooner and has substantially reduced the backlog for certain hearings. A Single Complaint Form that deals with over 100 first instance complaints and an interim website, workplacerelations.ie, were launched on the 4th of January this year. In addition, delivery of a pilot Early Resolution Service has commenced. This service, which will enter a pilot phase in early May this year, will assist parties to a dispute to resolve the issue themselves with the assistance of a Case Resolution Officer.

Work has commenced on the drafting of a Workplace Relations Bill to give effect to the new two-tier structure. I intend to have this legislation enacted by autumn this year. On 5th April this year I published a Blueprint Document setting out a clear path for the delivery of the remainder of the Reform Programme. I am inviting feedback on this document and I will consider any constructive advice or suggestions.