Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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103. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of inspection staff attached to the workplace relations bodies since being established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34727/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was established on 1stOctober 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015, and has responsibility for information provision, workplace advice, mediation, conciliation, adjudication, inspection and enforcement in relation to employment rights, equality and equal status matters and industrial relations.  Its staff forms part of the overall Departmental staffing complement.

The WRC assumes the roles and functions previously carried out by the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA), Equality Tribunal (ET), Labour Relations Commission (LRC), Rights Commissioners Service (RCS), and the first-instance (Complaints and Referrals) functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT).

The Labour Inspectors of the WRC's Inspection & Enforcement Service carry out inspections of employer records with a view to determining compliance with employment rights and employment permits legislation. These inspections arise:

- In response to complaints received of alleged non-compliance with relevant employment rights legislation;

- As part of compliance campaigns which focus on compliance in specific sectors or specific pieces of legislation, or

- As routine inspections, which act as a control measure.

The aim is to achieve voluntary compliance with employment law through the provision of education and awareness, inspection of employers’ employment records and enforcement where necessary. 

Staffing resources are allocated across my Department in the context of the requirement to manage the pay bill and staff numbers in accordance with Government policy, utilising available resources in the most effective and efficient manner as appropriate to business needs and priorities. On a day-to-day basis the HR Unit of my Department works with individual Business Units and the Department’s Management Board team on the allocation of staff resources and this would include the WRC. As an “Office” of my Department, this allows the Secretary General and her HR team the freedom to reallocate resources from one Business Unit to another as priorities change, always mindful that the pay-budget limits do constrain our capacity to grow staffing levels as well as having regard to strategic priorities captured through the workforce planning process within the Department.

The staffing of Workplace Relations Commission Inspection & Enforcement Services as at year end 2015, (the first date for which distinct WRC statistics are available) and as at 7thJuly, 2017, is set out below in tabular format as requested by the Deputy, and includes staff with additional responsibilities – performing managerial functions across the Inspection and Enforcement Division and the Information & Customer Service Division.

* ‘FTE’: denotes number of full time equivalent staff with reference to reduced work patterns

** The Principal Officer, Solicitor and Assistant Principal staff perform managerial functions across the Inspection and Enforcement Division and the Information & Customer Division of the WRC

** Inspectors and Inspection Team Managers