Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he has any plans to consider changing the procedure of appealing decisions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal by the Circuit Court through the High Court; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46682/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has jurisdiction under 18 separate pieces of legislation, some of which are lodged as direct claims to the Tribunal and others which come to the Tribunal by way of appeal or implementation of a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation/decision. Currently, if an employee or employer wishes to appeal a decision from the EAT the relevant court of appeal is dependent upon the type of legislation the original claim was taken under. Some legislation specifies that a decision of the EAT can be appealed to the Circuit Court for a de novo hearing and others specify that it can only be appealed to the High Court on a point of law. The procedure for appealing EAT Determinations is set out in Circuit Court Rules (www.courts.ie ).

An appropriate example of the procedure to which the Deputy refers would be the potential appeals path of an EAT Determination under the Unfair Dismissals Acts. This could currently involve an appeal with a fresh hearing to the Circuit Court which in turn could result in a further appeal and a fresh hearing by the High Court. The case may even have started out as a first instance case before a Rights Commissioner and in such circumstances the EAT hearing would indeed also have been an appeal involving a fresh hearing. Clearly this is not the best use of the resources of those making or defending complaints in the system or for the State.

As the Deputy may be aware, I am currently undertaking a root and branch reform of the existing Workplace Relations Bodies. The Reform Programme I have commenced will deliver a two tier Workplace Relations structure by merging the activities of the Labour Relations Commission, the National Employment Rights Authority, the Equality Tribunal and the first instance functions of the EAT 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. Work has commenced on the drafting of a Workplace Relations Bill to give effect to the new two-tier structure.

The Workplace Relations Bill which I hope to bring before the House in early 2013 will contain provisions in respect of the relevant procedures for appeals along the lines already outlined in the policy document ‘Legislating for a Worldclass Workplace Relations Service’ and also in my presentation before the joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs Enterprise and Innovation last July. I intend proposing to the Oireachtas that all first instance complaints requiring adjudication will be heard by the Adjudication Officers of the new Workplace Relations Commission and any subsequent appeals will be heard by the Labour Court as a full fresh appeal. The Labour Court will act as a court of final appeal for all adjudication decisions of the Workplace Relations Commission, subject to the right of either party to bring a further appeal from a determination of the Labour Court to the High Court on a point of law only.

I fully expect the work that I have initiated with regard to the reform of the Workplace Relations Bodies, including the EAT, to significantly improve the quality of service to users. Since I announced my reform proposals we have undertaken two public consultation processes; published two policy documents; published a new website; introduced a single complaint form and single contact portal and commenced delivery of an Early Resolution Service. In addition we have prepared the Scheme of the Workplace Relations Bill and secured Government Approval for priority drafting of the Bill.

The pace and quality of the delivery of this important Reform Programme is proof that the public sector can be reformed in a way that can save money for the tax payer, while at the same time greatly improving services for users. The significant progress to date means we now have:

- A new single contact portal called “Workplace Relations Customer Services” dealing with all Workplace Relations complaints which has replaced the five separate entry points.

- Complaints are now acknowledged, on average, within a week of receipt. This was previously taking up to eight months in some cases.

- The employer is also notified, on average, within a week of the complaint being lodged thus increasing the possibility of a resolution being reached without the need for a hearing. Again this was taking up to eight months;

- There are now no backlogs for Rights Commissioner hearings;

- A Single Complaint Form that deals with over 100 first instance complaints has replaced the 30 forms previously in use;

- A new workplace relations interim website www.workplacerelations.ie is in place;

- A pilot Early Resolution Service is now seeking to resolve disputes at an early stage without the need for adjudication.

I am determined to progress the next phase of the reform and the enactment of the legislation with the same determination and priority that has delivered excellent results so far.