Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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252. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the total amount expended on mediation services by the WRC annually in the 2014 to 2016 period in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39227/16]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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There are no specific figures available for the cost of delivering mediation by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) nor is there a separate budget allocated for the service.

The funding of the WRC is within the overall Vote allocation of my Department. In this regard the WRC was allocated €12,570,000 in 2016 for provision of workplace relations services, including mediation, conciliation, facilitation and advisory services, adjudication on employment and equality complaints, the monitoring of employment conditions to ensure the compliance and enforcement of employment rights legislation, the provision of information, and the processing of employment agency and protection of young persons (employment) licences.

The WRC was established on the 1 October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015. It incorporates the functions of the Labour Relations Commission (including the Rights Commissioner Service), the Equality Tribunal, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (first instance jurisdiction only), and the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA).

Prior to the establishment of the WRC, mediation was conducted as part of the day to day operations of the Equality Tribunal and the Labour Relations Commission.

Under section 39 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, the Director General of the WRC may, where she is of the opinion that a complaint or dispute is capable of being resolved without being referred to an adjudication officer under section 41, refer the matter to a mediation officer.

The WRC provides mediation and workplace mediation as part of the day to day operation and function of its Conciliation, Facilitation and Mediation Service when required.