Record numbers of complaints were made in relation to labour legislation last year, according to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).
Publishing its annual report for 2006, the LRC said referrals to its rights commissioner service were up 28 per cent last year on 2005 to a total of 7,179.
Labour Relations Commission Chief Executive Mr Kieran Mulvey. Image: Frank Miller.
The complaints mainly involved payment of wages, general industrial relations issues, working hours and unfair dismissal.
LRC chief executive Kieran Mulvey said the rate of activity reflects the extent of protective labour legislation on the Statute books, as well as an increasing awareness among workers of the nature of their employment rights.
He said this development was positive in employment relations terms, but he also encouraged employers to take "all possible steps to be equally aware of the implications of current employment legislation".
The LRC said it secured agreement in some 81 per cent of all disputes, mainly involving more than one worker, referred to its conciliation services division last year. "This level of settlement validates entirely the process of conciliation in the Irish industrial relations environment," said Mr Mulvey.
Some 210 separate projects designed to facilitate the avoidance of employment disputes were handled by the LRC's advisory services division in 2006.
Speaking in Dublin, Minister of State for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen said: "I am committed to providing the additional resources to enable the rights commissioner service to fulfil its role effectively.
"To this end, I will shortly appoint five additional rights commissioners as foreseen in the framework social partnership agreement Towards 2016."
The Minister said he hoped the Exceptional Collective Redundancies Bill, which passed through all stages in the Dáil before it was dissolved on Sunday, would pass through the Seanad later today.