Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 May 2013
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Employment Rights Issues
306. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the measures in place to ensure that parliamentary staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas enjoy the same protections from employment law as well as due process to prevent summary dismissal from Deputies. [22224/13]
View answerThe Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007 apply to all employees, subject to the exceptions set out in section 2 of the 1977 Act (as amended). Therefore, parliamentary staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas who meet the criteria of the Unfair Dismissals Acts are covered by the protections of the Acts. The Acts protect employees from being unfairly dismissed by laying down criteria by which the fairness or otherwise of dismissals are judged. The Acts also provide an adjudication system and then redress for an employee whose dismissal has been found to be unfair. To qualify to take a case under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, an employee is normally expected to have at least one year's continuous service with the employer, with some exceptions. Also, the Acts do not generally apply to the non-renewal of a a Fixed-Term contract which has reached the expiry date in the contract or do not apply to the non-renewal of a Specified-Purpose contract which has been completed in line with the contract, provided that this exclusion from the Acts is expressly stated in a written contract of employment. A claim for redress under the Acts may be submitted initially to either of the adjudicative bodies specified in the Acts i.e. a Rights Commissioner or the Employment Appeals Tribunal within six months of the date of dismissal (this can be extended to 12 months in exceptional circumstances). An application to either a Rights Commissioner or the Employment Appeals Tribunal may be made using the Single Complaint Form which is available at website www.workplacerelations.ie and the completed form may be forwarded to the Workplace Relations Customer Services, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, O'Brien Road, Carlow.
