Similar to other adjudicative bodies, the impact of Covid-19, and the occasioned restrictions on in-person hearings, has disrupted the scheduling of complaints submitted to the WRC quite significantly.
The introduction of new procedures to facilitate the administration of an oath or the requirement to reschedule part heard cases before a new Adjudication Officer, required following a Supreme Court judgment last year, also impacted on the scheduling of cases in 2021.
However, the WRC, to minimise delay to the parties, established a remote hearing platform shortly after Covid-19 required the immediate cessation of in-person hearings. Almost all hearings that have taken place over the past 18 months have been carried out via that platform. In that time, on average, the WRC has been offering between 120-135 hearings per week.
As Covid restrictions continue to ease the WRC will bring forward for early disposal those cases that are not suited to virtual hearing.
My Department has provided additional resources to assist the WRC in this regard, and some six staff have been assigned to assist in the scheduling and overseeing the proper conduct of remote hearings – these are more resource-heavy than in-person hearings – and an additional eight Adjudication Officers were recruited recently bringing the overall number of such Officers (both permanent and contract) to fifty six an increase of 55% since the WRC was first established in 2015.
My Department will continue to work closely with the WRC to ensure that it is fully resourced to carry out its important work.
