Written answers

Tuesday, 22 September 2015

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Employment Appeals Tribunal

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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455. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on concerns at the significant timelags, four years in some instances, between cases being heard by the Employment Appeals Tribunal and determinations on those cases being issued by the tribunal. [31613/15]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Employment Appeals Tribunal is committed to issuing 60% of determinations within 8 weeks of hearing and 90% of determinations to issue within 6 months of hearing. The most recent statistics in relation to the timeframe for issuing determinations indicate that 67% of determinations issue within 8 weeks of a hearing date and 98% of determinations issue within 6 months of hearing date. The small numbers of cases that take longer to finalise are usually complex in nature and may involve further submissions from parties and consultations between the members of the Tribunal who heard those cases. The Workplace Relations Reform Programme, which will be effected from 1st October this year, will deliver a two tier Workplace Relations structure. 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 will be merged 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. From 1st October all complaints will fall to be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission in the first instance, and, on appeal, to the Labour Court.

My objective as part of the Reform Programme is to reduce the waiting time for hearings by putting in place a target period of three months from the time of complaint to hearing.

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