Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)
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310. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans that he will put in place to reduce the waiting time, currently at least 77 weeks, before a case is heard by the Employment Appeals Tribunal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18379/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Employment Appeals Tribunal is independent in the exercise of its quasi-judicial function and I have no direct involvement in its day to day operations. The Employment Appeals Tribunal has seen a significant increase in its caseload in recent years, as it is one of the front-line services directly impacted upon by the economic downturn. The largest increase in claims has been in redundancy appeals but other types of claims have also increased. Regrettably, this has increased the time it takes for a claimant to have his or her case heard. All appeals are listed for hearing in accordance with their date of lodgment with the Tribunal.

The tribunal itself has been active in ensuring that the resources allocated to it are used in an efficient manner and there is an ongoing review of how this is best delivered. For example, divisions of the tribunal are sitting longer, hearing more cases per hearing and seeking to manage the caseload to maximise efficiency. Cases are assessed at the scheduling stage and those that are seen as requiring less time to conclude or are of a similar nature are streamed together in an effort to conclude as many cases as possible in as short a time as possible. This is reflected directly in the increase in the number of cases finalised by the tribunal over the last three years. These increases are as follows: 2010 + 30%, 2011 + 11% and 2012 + 13%.

Notwithstanding the efforts of the tribunal, I believe that the delays that users of the service are experiencing are unacceptable. This is one of the reasons I am undertaking a root and branch reform of all five 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 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. Work has commenced on the drafting of a workplace relations Bill to give effect to the new two-tier structure.

The purpose of the reform programme is to provide a more efficient and effective system of resolving employment disputes. Substantial progress has already been made in this regard. For example, the establishment of a workplace relations single contact portal from January this year has resulted in all complaints now being acknowledged and respondents notified within a matter of weeks of receipt of the complaint. In some cases this was taking up to eight months. This service enhancement increases the likelihood of employers and employees resolving issues sooner and has substantially reduced the backlog for certain hearings. I understand that the backlog for Rights Commissioner hearings has effectively been eliminated.

The service improvements have also been underpinned by the launch from January last year of a single complaint form for all first instance workplace relations complaints. A Pilot Early Resolution Service commenced on 14 May last year. This service will provide the opportunity in certain cases for employers and employees to resolve issues without recourse to formal adjudication hearings, thus relieving pressure on adjudication services such as the Rights Commissioner Service and the EAT.

The two tier model now being designed will deliver a just, fair and efficient adjudication service provided by independent, professional and impartial decision-makers with a target period of three months from the time of complaint to hearing, and written, reasoned decisions within 28 working days of the hearing with published decisions. Finally, I also intend to provide for a more effective method of enforcing the awards of adjudicators.