Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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70. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the long delays in the delivery of Labour Court adjudications; the reason for these delays; and his plans to resolve the issue. [20966/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Labour Court’s statutory mandate is to provide a fair, independent and cost effective means of resolving workplace related disputes.

The Labour Court is committed to providing a hearing date without undue delay and that it will deliver a decision or recommendation within a reasonable timeframe following the hearing. On average the Labour Court can provide a hearing date within 13 weeks of referral and deliver a recommendation within three weeks from the date of hearing in industrial relations cases and a determination within six weeks of hearing in employment rights and equality cases. The Court meets that target in 80% of cases. Delays in issuing recommendations/determinations, where they occur, are frequently caused by a failure on the part of parties to provide the Court with all of the information that it requires in order to fairly dispose of a case.

I am advised that the Labour Court is not currently experiencing long delays in issuing its recommendations/determinations.

As part of the reform programme underway to deliver a two tier Workplace Relations structure, the appellate functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal will be incorporated into an expanded Labour Court. The Labour Court currently has three Divisions. A new Division of the Labour Court is to be established. The Public Appointments Service have finalised the selection process for two new Deputy Chairs of the Labour Court, and following consultation with employer representative groups and trade unions, the Minister will select two additional Ordinary Members. This will facilitate the appointment of an additional Division to the Labour Court. While the Labour Court will have four Divisions, it will be restructured for greater efficiency to allow the Court deal with additional appeals.

I am confident that these changes will further enhance the efficiency and productivity of the Court and will allow it to cope with an increased caseload without a corresponding increase in its strength.