Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2010
341 Deputy Phil Hogan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation his plans to amend the Industrial Relations Act 1990 to clarify the definition of worker in that legislation in order to allow recourse of setting categories of workers in the public service to deal with industrial relations issues in an efficient and quick manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43561/10]
View answerAccess to the employment dispute settling bodies under the Industrial Relations Acts is governed by the definition of "worker" in Section 23 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990. Workers not included within this definition are normally covered by separate schemes of Conciliation and Arbitration.
Workers in some parts of the public service, e.g. Local Authorities, Health Service Executive, are already covered by the definition of "worker" and, accordingly, have access to the State's industrial relations machinery.
Section 23(1)(e) of the 1990 Act excludes, inter alia, "an officer of a vocational education committee" from this definition of "worker". Arising from an agreement between management and union sides to abolish the existing Conciliation and Arbitration machinery for vocational educational committee officers and to bring them within the scope of the Industrial Relations Acts, it is now proposed to amend the definition of "worker" to include such officers, with the exception of teachers, within the definition of "worker" in the Act. An amendment to this effect is included in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2009, which is currently awaiting Committee Stage in the Dáil.
The question of an amendment to the Industrial Relations Acts to provide for the inclusion of persons employed in the civil service in the definition of "worker" may arise in future in the context of ongoing discussions between civil service management and unions in relation to possible changes in arrangements under the Civil Service Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme. These discussions would be a matter in the first instance for the Minister for Finance.
