Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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116. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the powers that the Workplace Relations Commission has to request attendance at one of their hearings (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33359/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent, statutory body which was established on 1st October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015. The WRC’s core services include the provision of early resolution, 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 is independent in the exercise of its quasi-judicial function and I as Minister have no direct involvement in its day to day operations.

Adjudication Officers of the WRC are statutorily independent in their decision making duties as they relate to adjudicating on complaints referred to them by the Director General of the WRC.  The Adjudication Officer’s role is to hold a hearing where both parties are given an opportunity to be heard and to present any evidence relevant to the complaint. If a complainant does not attend a hearing, the Adjudication Officer may find that the complaint fails for want of prosecution. If the respondent does not attend the Adjudication Officer may proceed and make a decision based on the information and evidence available. Decisions of an Adjudication Officer may be appealed to the Labour Court within the legislative time limits prescribed.

Under Section 41(10) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 an Adjudication Officer may require the attendance of a person to attend a hearing to give evidence or produce documentation relevant to his/her inquiry into a complaint under a broad suite of employment rights legislation. Any person who fails or refuses to comply with a notice from an Adjudication Officer or refuses to give evidence in proceedings or fails or refuses to produce any document to which the notice relates shall be guilty of an offence.  Similarly, when investigating complaints under the Employment Equality Acts an Adjudication Officer has the power to compel a person to attend a hearing to give evidence or produce documentation relevant to his/her investigation in accordance with the provisions of Section 95 of this legislation.

It is unclear if the Deputy’s question relates to the adjudication process or the conciliation process within the WRC. With regard to the conciliation service, participation by parties is voluntary as are the outcomes of that process.  The conciliation process is initiated by a referral of the dispute to the WRC by either or both parties involved. In serious disputes the Commission itself may, where no referral has been made, intervene and invite both parties concerned to conciliation.   On receipt of a referral, other than a joint referral, the Conciliation Service of the Commission seeks the agreement of the other party to attend a conciliation conference but that service has no further role where such agreement is not forthcoming, or where its invitation has been declined.