Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 9 Mar 1993

Vol. 427 No. 6

Written Answers. - Labour Law Enforcement Actions.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

134 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the number of enforcement actions taken by him under labour law against individuals who have failed to honour awards made in each of the years from 1988 to 1992; the number successfully concluded in each of those years and the number still outstanding; and his views on the effectiveness of this procedure for getting workers their entitlements.

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. Quinn)

During the period referred to by the Deputy, enforcement actions in respect of non-payment of awards made under labour law came within the scope of the functions of the Minister for Labour, who had the power to take such actions under the terms of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973, the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977, the Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act, 1974, the Employment Equality Act, 1977 and the Maternity Protection of Employees Act, 1981. In January, 1993, responsibility for the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973 and the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 was transferred to the Minister for Enterprise and Employment and responsibility for the other three Acts was transferred to the Minister for Equality and Law Reform. I propose to deal with the Deputy's question in respect of the Acts which come within my area of responsibility.

The Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973 and the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 allow the Minister to initiate, on behalf of an employee who so requests it, proceedings for the enforcement of the terms of a determination made by the Employment Appeals Tribunal but not discharged by the employer.

All complaints of non-payment of awards made by the Tribunal are investigated by my Department in the first instance. If my officials fail to secure payment of the award, the case is referred to the Chief State Solicitor's Office with a view to initiating legal proceedings. Details are set out in the following tabular statements of the number of complaints received of non-payment of awards in each of the years 1989-1992 and the number of cases finalised successfully in each of those years. I regret that details in respect of years earlier than 1989 are not available.

Awards made under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973

Year	No. of Awards made by E.A.T.	No. of Complaints of non-payment received	No. of Cases finalised successfully
1989	2,283	111	53
1990	3,199	81	46
1991	2,346	94	63
1992	3,201	143	54

Awards made under the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977

Year	No. of Awards made by E.A.T.	No. of Complaints of non-payment received	No. of cases finalised successfully
1989	174	53	43
1990	133	34	30
1991	193	54	45
1992	229	56	39

In relation to the tabular statements, it should be noted that each column gives the figures for each year in respect of the activity described in the column heading. Consequently, for example, the figure for the number of cases finalised in 1992 would not relate solely to the figures for the awards or complaints of non-payment of awards made in that year.

I am still actively pursuing complaints submitted to me in the period 1989-1992 in 210 cases under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973 and in 78 cases under the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977.

It will be seen from the tabular statements that, in the great majority of cases, workers are paid the awards to which they are entitled under the legislation.

It is my view that the arrangements currently in place for the enforcement of awards under the legislation concerned are adequate and effective.