Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 November 2016
204. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the parties that were involved in the abolition of the EAT and Rights Commissioners in order to set up the WRC; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37807/16]
View answerOn 24th July 2012, the Government approved the General Scheme of the Workplace Relations Bill and the priority drafting thereof. This Bill was required to give effect to the Government Decision of 15th November 2011 to rationalise the State’s existing employment rights and industrial relations dispute resolution bodies.
Following on from these Government decisions the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has undertaken and completed an extensive programme of reform of the State’s employment rights and industrial relations procedures. The legislation which has given statutory effect to the reform programme, namely the Workplace Relations Act 2015, was enacted on 20th May, 2015.
During the preparatory stage of this legislation, the Minister engaged in extensive public consultation in framing the proposals for a radical reform of the State’s Workplace Relations Services. This process included two extensive public consultation exercises and the publication of two policy papers which helped inform the design and delivery of the reform. The responses received from stakeholders demonstrated a strong consensus around the need for reform and the shape that reform should take. The Policy document ‘Legislating for a World Class Workplace Relations Service’ was submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in July, 2012 and the Minister had a constructive dialogue with the Committee in July, 2012 on the basis of the document.
Numerous meetings also took place with interested parties, representative of employees, employers and equality interests including IBEC and ICTU to get their input into the process.
The Workplace Relations Act 2015 provides for the establishment of a new two-tier workplace relations structure to replace the previously existing five workplace relations bodies. A new single body of first instance called the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was created from 1st October 2015 and a separate appeals body, which is effectively an expanded Labour Court.
The WRC incorporates the functions of the Labour Relations Commission (including the Rights Commissioner Service), the Equality Tribunal, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (first instance jurisdiction only), and the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). Three of the bodies listed above have been dis-established following the transfer of their functions to the WRC. The Employment Appeals Tribunal will be dis-established once it has dealt with the caseload submitted to it prior to 1st October 2015.
The putting in place of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 is the most far-reaching legislative reform in the area of employment and industrial relations in almost 70 years. The result is a more straightforward and user friendly system allowing both expert and non-expert users navigate their way around the employment and industrial relations machinery.
