Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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265. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of legacy adjudication complaints initially submitted to the Rights Commissioner Service of the Labour Relations Commission and the Equality Tribunal which were to receive a hearing by the adjudication service of the Workplace Relations Commission as of 31 December 2017; and the equivalent figures for 31 December in each of the years 2014 to 2016. [8593/18]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The establishment of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) created a more streamlined structure for the submission of employment rights and equality complaints. All first instance complaints are now submitted to the WRC, whereas before they could be submitted to the Rights Commissioner Service in the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), the Equality Tribunal, or the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

On establishment of the WRC on 1 October 2015, it assumed responsibility for some 3,965 combined legacy complaints of the Equality Tribunal and the Rights Commissioners. Currently, 3,670 or 93% of the legacy caseload that the WRC assumed have been dealt with.

At the end of 2014, the Equality Tribunal had 1,426 complaints on hand. A corresponding figure is not available for Rights Commissioner cases although the service received 9,800 complaints that year. By the end of 2016, the legacy caseload was reduced by 60% to 1,628.

At year end 2017, the legacy caseload of 3,965 complaints assumed by the WRC in October 2015 has reduced to just 295.

Of the outstanding 295 cases, legacy complaints from the Rights Commissioner service totals just five cases which cannot be processed further at this point pending decisions of the High Court.

Of the 290 legacy complaints from the Equality Tribunal, a number of these cases cannot be processed further by the WRC at this point as they are pending decisions of other courts.  In a number of other cases, decisions of the WRC are either pending or have hearing dates assigned over the next two month period. It is expected that all of these cases before the WRC will be processed to completion in the near future.

It should be noted that over the same period, the Adjudication Service of the WRC has received some 28,500 new complaints. Within this number, c. 92% of these current complaints are being fully processed, i.e. a decision is given on a complaint or it is otherwise resolved, in six months or less, where no postponement requests or late submissions.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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266. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the sum of unpaid wages recovered by the Workplace Relations Commission in 2017 by area and sector. [8594/18]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC)’s 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. While every effort is made to secure compliance, some employers either refuse or fail to rectify the breaches identified and/or pay money due to their employees. These cases are referred for prosecution.

Details of the amount of unpaid wages recovered by the WRC in 2017 by area and by sector are provided in the following table.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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267. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of employment rights compliance investigations launched by the Workplace Relations Commission’s inspection services in 2017 in relation to Acts (details supplied), in tabular form. [8595/18]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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268. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of compliance notices, fixed payment notices and summary prosecutions issued by the Workplace Relations Commission’s enforcement services in 2017 for alleged failures to comply with employment rights legislation, by the Acts which those notices and prosecutions are in relation to. [8596/18]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 267 and 268 together.

The Workplace Relations Commission carries out inspections of employer employment records

- 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. While every effort is made to secure compliance, some employers either refuse or fail to rectify the breaches identified and/or pay money due to their employees. These cases are referred for prosecution.

The metric used for recording inspection activity is by economic sector as opposed to specific statutes. The following table sets out inspection activity by economic sector in 2017.

The following tables set out the number of compliance notices, fixed payment notices and summary prosecutions issued by the Workplace Relations Commission’s enforcement services in 2017.

*Some of these prosecutions were for breaches of more than one Act.