Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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348. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps that are open to an employee in situations where a rights commissioner stated that they had serious concerns regarding the employer's conduct and a subsequent Labour Court ruling deemed a dismissal to be unfair, and yet the employee has not been reinstated or recompensed (details supplied). [31039/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Rights Commissioner Service is part of the Labour Relations Commission, a statutory body independent of my Department in the performance of its functions.

I understand that, in this instance, while the claim referred to an unfair dismissal, it was lodged under the Industrial Relations Acts 1969 to 2001. The Rights Commissioner’s Recommendation issued on 2 May 2014. In the case of the Industrial Relations Acts 1969 to 2001, the time limit for an appeal to the Labour Court is 6 weeks after the making of the Rights Commissioner Recommendation. This recommendation would have been accompanied by an Information Sheet outlining the appeals process. As the Recommendation has issued, that concludes the involvement of the Rights Commissioner Service.

There is no record of an appeal having been made to the Labour Court in this case. Such an appeal would have resulted in a recommendation being issued to the parties by the Labour Court. This recommendation however would not have been legally enforceable as such recommendations under the Industrial Relations Acts 1969 to 2001 are voluntarist in nature.

As there is no legal compellability available to enforce such awards the only avenue open to the claimant is to seek, either in person or through his/her trade union, to have the award honoured by the employer.