Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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234. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will address a matter (details supplied) regarding the SEA; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26334/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) are provided for under the Industrial Relations Act 1946 and were reformed by the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act, 2012. A JLC is comprised of equal numbers of representatives of employers and workers in a sector.  JLCs meet regularly, under an independent Chairperson to discuss proposals for terms and conditions to apply to specified grades or categories of workers in the sector. If agreement is reached the JLC publishes details and invites submissions from interested parties. 

If, after consideration of any submissions received, the Committee adopts the proposals it will submit them to the Labour Court for consideration. The Labour Court will then make a decision on the adoption of the proposals. If the Court decides to adopt the proposals, a copy is presented to me and if I consider it appropriate to do so I will make an Order giving effect to the proposals. Such Orders are known as Employment Regulation Orders.

The Joint Labour Committee for the Security Industry was established in accordance with Statutory Instrument No. 377 of 1998 (as amended by Statutory Instrument No. 30 of 2014). The Deputy may be aware that the JLC structure has in recent years undergone an extensive overhaul as the result of a successful Constitutional challenge in 2011 and the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012 addresses the shortcomings identified in the ruling on that challenge.

In relation to the membership of the JLC I am informed that, in accordance with the Statute, the Labour Court consulted with ICTU, Ibec and the two employer organisations most closely connected with the Security Industry, the National Union of Security Employers (merged with the Security Institute of Ireland in 2011) and the Irish Security Industry Association.  Following consultation, these bodies nominated representatives of both employers and employees for membership of the Committee. The current members were appointed on 12 May 2014.

The Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson are Industrial Relations Officers from the Workplace Relations Commission and are appointed by me.

The constitution and proceedings of JLCs is set out in the Fifth Schedule to the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. The discussions within the Joint Labour Committees are not open to me nor to my Department.

The draft proposals for an employment regulation order to replace the one that currently exists for the Security Industry and that you refer to were advertised as part of the public consultation process. The closing date for submissions on those proposals was 7 February last. The proposals were subsequently adopted by the Labour Court and forwarded to me. Having considered them in the context of the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1946 as amended, I am satisfied that the legislation was complied with during the formulation of the proposals by the JLC and their adoption by the Labour Court and I signed an Order on 30 May to give effect to the proposals from 1 June 2017. (S.I. No. 231 of 2017 - Employment Regulation Order (Security Industry Joint Labour Committee) 2017).