Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 May 2019
64. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if recent changes in the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 with regard to contracts of employment and so on will see extra resources allocated to the WRC to ensure compliance with the new laws and increased protections for workers affected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20567/19]
View answerThe Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018, which comes under the remit of my colleague Regina Doherty T.D., Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, was signed into law by the President on 25 December 2018.
The key objective of the Act is to improve the security and predictability of hours of work for those on insecure contracts and those working variable hours. The WRC will monitor compliance with the Act as part of their ongoing inspection regime and employees who believe that their employer is in breach of the Act can bring a complaint to the WRC.
Additional funding has already been provided in 2019 to enable the WRC deal with the anticipated increased workload arising from An Garda Síochána gaining access to the WRC and to facilitate an improved delivery of the full range of WRC services to regional locations. My Department will continue to work closely with the WRC in monitoring its staffing and budgetary requirements, including anticipating future resource requirements, to ensure that it is supported and adequately resourced to fulfil its mandate.
Adequate resourcing of the WRC is a commitment in the Programme for Government and I am confident that the supports that have already been put in place for the WRC are sufficient to deliver on its mandate.
