Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will report on waiting times for cases to be heard and staffing levels in the Rights Commissioner and Labour Court in the past three years. [9169/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Rights Commissioner Service staffing levels expressed in terms of Full Time Equivalent (FTEs) for the 3 years in question are as follows:

The time taken from the receipt to the hearing of a complaint which is adjudicated upon by the Rights Commissioner Service for the 3 years in question are as follows* :

*It should be noted that these are approximate figures as complaints under the Industrial Relations Acts and the Unfair Dismissals Acts are subject to a 21 day objection period. Parties are given minimum of 4 weeks’ notice of a hearing and either party can seek an adjournment to a hearing.

The Labour Court staffing levels again expressed in terms of FTEs are as follows:

The majority of the Labour Court's Dublin based cases are heard within 12 weeks and the majority of regional cases are heard within 6 months. This has been unchanged since 2010.

As you may be aware, I am undertaking a root and branch reform of all five Workplace Relations Bodies. The Reform Programme I have commenced will deliver a World-Class Workplace Relations structure. I propose to establish a two-tier Workplace Relations structure. This means that from next year two statutorily independent bodies will replace the current five. We will have a new single body of first instance to be called the Workplace Relations Commission and a separate appeals body, which will effectively be an expanded Labour Court. All complaints will be dealt with by a single body of first instance where the aim will be to have a hearing within three months from the time the case is lodged.

Considerable progress has been achieved to date. Two public consultations have been undertaken, two policy papers published, a Single Contact Portal established, a Single Complaint Form developed, a new website www.workplacerelations.ie published and a Pilot Early Resolution Service put in place. In addition the Equality Tribunal has transferred from my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality to me in preparation for its integration into the new Workplace Relations Commission.

A significant amount of work has been completed on the Workplace Relations Bill which will give statutory effect to the Reforms. The Scheme of the Workplace Relations Bill was approved by Government, in July 2012, for priority drafting. The Cabinet has also approved the inclusion of the Workplace Relations Bill on the Government's A-list of legislation planned for the Spring 2013.

The reform will establish a modern fully functional workplace relations system that will play a major role promoting and maintaining harmonious and productive workplaces. It will greatly improve the workplace relations service to users, while also reducing the cost to business and the exchequer at the same time.