James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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61. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to Parliamentary Question No. 306 of 3 December 2019, the way in which a person can secure recourse when a court order following a WRC decision is not honoured; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17551/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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If an Employer/Respondent fails to comply with a decision of an Adjudication Officer of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), or a decision of the Labour Court arising from an appeal of an Adjudication Officer's decision, within the prescribed time, an application may be made to the District Court in accordance with section 43 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 for an order directing the Respondent to carry out the decision. The application can be made by the following:

- The complainant concerned;

- The WRC, on behalf of a complainant where the complainant requests the WRC to make an application;

- A Trade Union, with consent of the employee; or

- An excepted body of which the employee/complainant is a member.

Section 51 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, further provides that failure to comply with an Order issued by the District Court in accordance with Section 43 is an offence and that a person guilty of that offence shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a Class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

In terms of applications made to the District Court by the WRC, some 16 such cases have been initiated in the years 2017 to date : payment has been confirmed on foot of 6 orders issued and 4 respondents have been convicted for failure to comply with a Court Order issued. The remaining cases are ongoing.

Where applications are made directly to the District Court by a complainant or a trade union or excepted body on behalf of a complainant, the WRC has no direct knowledge of the outcome in relation to compliance with the Order. Ultimately, Sheriffs (or County Registrars acting as Sheriffs) are responsible to the Court for the enforcement of Court Orders. The law and procedures governing the execution of Court Orders is contained in the Enforcement of Court Orders Acts, 1926 to 1940 which is under the remit of the Minister for Justice and Equality.