All of these measures will be complete in September. In addition, the Minister announced the creation of a single point of entry and a single website for the five bodies, which he hopes to have in place by the end of 2011.

Making the announcement, Minister Bruton said: “This Government is serious about improving public services for users and reducing costs for taxpayers.

“Two weeks ago I announced a plan to streamline the five State employment rights bodies, and said that my preference would be for a single structure made up of one body dealing with matters of first instance and another body dealing with appeals. Today I am announcing the first steps in that process, which includes naming a leader in the field to drive and coordinate the process across the employment bodies, and immediately placing the operations of two of the key bodies under single leadership.

“Our employment rights bodies which have grown up in a haphazard manner over the years are not fit for purpose. Workers seeking to enforce their rights face waiting times of up to 80 weeks, more than 35 different forms, six different websites, and generally bewildering complexity. Abuses go undetected; yet compliant employers too often find themselves embroiled in costly and time-consuming hearings. And the whole thing costs too much for the taxpayer.

“An effective system would see more grievances resolved in the workplace. Most workers and trade unions do not want to rely on employment law to vindicate their rights, and high standards in the workplace can be a source of competitive advantage for businesses.

“Reform in this area has been talked about for many years. Today I am happy to announce the first steps of implementation.

“I would like to thank Kieran Mulvey for agreeing to provide the leadership for NERA at a hugely important time, which represents a substantial increase in responsibilities at a time when the LRC is already contributing greatly to the increased challenges arising from workplace and labour market changes. I would also like to thank Ger Deering for his willingness to drive the streamlining process as an industry expert”.

Background
On 5th July last Minister Bruton announced that he had secured Government approval for a merger of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority, including the scrapping of the NCA board.

The employment rights bodies in question in this process are: the Labour Relations Commission and the National Employment Rights Authority, the Employment Appeals Tribunal, and the Labour Court. The possibility of including the Equality Tribunal in the project is also being pursued. The industrial relations role of the Labour Court will not be affected by these changes, and its significant role in adjudication of employment rights is discharged solely as an appellate body.

The measures announced by Minister Bruton today are as follows:

1. With effect from 1st September 2011, the Labour Relations Commission, under the direction of Mr Kieran Mulvey, CEO, will take over the day-to-day management and operation of the resources of the National Employment Rights Authority on an interim basis. This will enhance opportunities for further synergy between the two bodies and maximise the potential for a joined-up service to employers and worker. In particular, it will open up greater possibilities for improvements in the volume and range of interventions available - whether inspections or hearings - as well as better information provision and raising of awareness among employers and workers as to their respective responsibilities and rights.

2. With effect from 1st September 2011, Mr Ger Deering, Director of NERA, has been asked by the Minister to take on the role of Project Liaison for the streamlining project on an interim basis, with specific responsibility for liaising with the Heads of the bodies concerned, coordinating and driving the change process at organisational level on a collegiate basis with the input and cooperation of the individual organisations including the Employment Appeals Tribunal, Labour Court, LRC and NERA. The possibility of including the Equality Tribunal in the project is also being pursued.

3. An Implementation Group has been established within the Minister's Department to lead the change process. This Group which will report directly to the Minister and will be chaired by a senior official of his Department (and by the Minister himself from time to time) and will comprise representatives of all the bodies concerned as well as Mr Deering. This Group will provide the overall governance and management structure for the ERIR streamlining project.

4. Starting in late July, the Minister will engage in a short consultation process with stakeholders, including employers groups, trade unions and the legal profession, in the coming weeks with a view to its conclusion by early September. A summary consultation paper will be prepared by the end of July seeking responses by September to key issues arising from the Minister's recent announcement of his preference for a simplified structure comprising a single body for dealing with workplace disputes and a single appeals body.

5. With effect from late September, the Minister will be appointing 5 County Registrars as Vice Chairs of the Employment Appeals Tribunal as part of an innovative pilot project designed to utilise the existing resources of two State services. This is a concrete example of cooperation in the spirit of the Croke Park Agreement and it will reduce the travel and per diem costs associated with deploying personnel to assist with cases in regional locations. It will also enhance effectiveness by opening up greater use of Courts Service facilities for the hearing of Employment Appeals Tribunal cases, thus reducing the need to hire accommodation.

6. The Minister launched the piloting of a new on-line application form for the Employment Appeals Tribunal and commended the EAT for its progressive work in this important area of customer service. The new form will be available for use from Monday 1 August 2011 at www.eatribunal.ie and it reduces the number of forms required from 5 to 1. The Minister intends to replicate this approach by reducing the number of forms required in respect of all workplace disputes to the absolute minimum and to have on-line filing of claims available within the new streamlined structure and a single point of entry for all claims. The new on-line form will be supported by a short training video on Youtube which will take claimants through the process on a step by step basis.

7. Along with a single point of entry for all claims, the Minister will be seeking to establish a single website which will provide comprehensive up to date information on employment rights to employers and workers and it will, in time, replace the individual websites of the existing employment bodies including the LRC, NERA, Equality Tribunal, EAT and Labour Court. The intention is that this will be in place before the end of 2011.

Arising from the day to day transfer of the management of NERA services to the LRC, there will be no interruption or change to those services whether in the inspection area or in terms of information provision. The staff of NERA and the LRC are civil servants of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and there are no changes arising from today's announcement in that regard. The day-to-day management responsibility changes will take effect from 1 September 2011.

Extracts from the Minister’s speech to the employment rights conference at UCD can be found at: http://www.djei.ie/press/2011/20110701a.htm

The full speech can be found at: http://www.djei.ie/press/2011/20110702.htm

As part of the ongoing Comprehensive review of Expenditure all Departments are undertaking a root and branch examination of all expenditure under their remit in order to identify expenditure programme savings, scope for savings arising from efficiency and other reforms, proposals for reducing and/or merging of agencies and associated reductions in staff numbers.