Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 October 2013
311. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of cases that have been taken by workers or their unions to the rights commissioner, Employment Appeals Tribunal and Labour Court in 2011 and 2012; the timeframe and the average waiting time to have cases heard in each of these bodies. [40974/13]
View answerThe Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) received 8,004 referrals from employees/trade unions in 2011 and 4,977 in 2012. The average waiting time to be heard was 76.5 weeks in 2011 and 79.5 in 2012. To address waiting times and maximise efficiency, Divisions of the EAT have extended sitting times, are dealing with more cases per hearing. This approach has resulted in a significant increase in the number of claims disposed of over the past few years: 2010 – 6,064(+ 30%); 2011 – 6,723(+ 11%); 2012 -7,624(+ 13%). In addition, in planning its work schedule, the Tribunal targets geographic areas by longest waiting period and highest level of claims outstanding.
The Rights Commissioner Service received 9,206 referrals in 2011 and 8,852 referrals in 2012. While the Service does not differentiate between employer/employee referrals in terms of data capture, the vast majority of such referrals comprise workers’ claims. At end-2012 claimants were being offered a first Hearing within 8-12 weeks of receipt. It should be borne in mind that there is a holding period specified in some legislation (e.g. 3 weeks for unfair dismissals and industrial relations cases. It is accepted that a minimum period of 6-8 weeks for scheduling a hearing is appropriate, as this provides adequate notice and allows sufficient time for preparation by both parties and minimises the number of adjournment requests. In addition, claims are now also screened for suitability for the Early Resolution Service (ERS) of the Labour Relations Commission. Any claims unresolved by the ERS are generally scheduled for a hearing within 4 weeks.
The Labour Court hears claims under various separate pieces of legislation, some of which are lodged as direct claims to the Court and others which come to the Court by way of appeal or implementation from the other Employment Rights bodies. The Labour Court received a total of 1254 referrals in 2011 and 1254 referrals in 2012; these were comprised of a range of referrals by workers or their representatives and employers or their representatives. Similar to the Rights Commissioner Service, the Labour Court does not differentiate referrals by referrer.
The majority of the Labour Court's Dublin based cases are heard within 12 weeks with an average of approx. 10 weeks and the majority of regional cases are heard within 6 months with an average of approx. 4/5 months. The option of having a regional case transferred to a Dublin hearing is available should the parties wish to have the hearing within a shorter timescale.
