Labour Court
Industrial Relations Act 1969
REVISED
Updated to 1 October 2015
Definitions.
1.—In this Act—
“the Court” means the Labour Court;
“the Minister” means the Minister for Labour;
“the Principal Act” means the Industrial Relations Act, 1946.
Membership of the Court.
F1[2.—(1) The Court shall consist of a chairman (in this Act referred to as the chairman), a deputy chairman or deputy chairmen and ordinary members.
(2) The number of deputy chairmen shall be equal to the number of divisions of the Court F2[…].
(3) The number of ordinary members shall be equal to twice the number of divisions of the Court and shall be divided equally among workers’ members and employers’ members.]
Annotations:
Amendments:
F1
Substituted (18.05.1976) by Industrial Relations Act 1976 (15/1976), s. 9, commenced on enactment.
F2
Deleted (1.08.2015) by Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 77, S.I. No. 338 of 2015.
Divisions of the Court.
3.—Whenever the chairman is of opinion that for the speedy dispatch of the business of the Court it is expedient that the Court should act by divisions, he may direct accordingly, and, until he revokes his direction—
(a) the Court shall be grouped into—
(i) a first division, consisting of the chairman (who shall be chairman of the division) and a workers’ member and an employers’ member selected by him,
(ii) a second division, consisting of the deputy chairman appointed under section 4 (1) of this Act (who shall be chairman of the division), a workers’ member and an employers’ member, and
(iii) if the direction so provides, a third division consisting of the deputy chairman appointed under section 4 (4) of this Act (who shall be chairman of the division) and a workers’ member and an employers’ member;
(b) the chairman shall assign to each division the business to be transacted by it;
(c) for the purpose of the business so assigned to it, each division shall have all the powers of the Court and the chairman of the division shall have all the powers of the chairman and references in this Act to the Court and the chairman shall be construed as including references to a division and the chairman of a division respectively.
Annotations:
Modifications (not altering text):
C10
Application of subss. (b) and (c) extended (18.05.1976) by Industrial Relations Act 1976 (15/1976), s. 8(2), commenced on enactment.
Additional divisions of the Court.
8.— …
(2) A division of the Court provided for under this section shall consist of a deputy chairman of the Court (who shall be chairman of the division), a workers’ member and an employers’ member, and sections 3 (b) and 3 (c) of the Act of 1969 shall apply in relation to such a division as if it were a division under that Act.
…
Certain functions of Labour Court performable by chairman or deputy chairman of Labour Court
F3[3A. Such functions of the Court as may be prescribed by order made by the Minister, after consultation with the chairman, may be performed by the chairman or a deputy chairman sitting alone.]
Annotations:
Amendments:
F3
Inserted (1.08.2015) by Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 78, S.I. No. 338 of 2015.
Editorial Notes:
E3
Power pursuant to section exercised (1.08.2015) by Industrial Relations Act 1969 (Section 3A) Order 2015 (S.I. No. 344 of 2015).
E4
The section heading is that of the amending section in the absence of one included in the amendment.
Deputy chairman of the Court.
4.—F4[(1) (a) Subject to subsection (1A) (inserted by section 79(b) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015), the Minister shall appoint persons to be deputy chairmen from among persons in respect of whom recommendations for the purposes of this section have been made by the Public Appointments Service consequent upon the holding of a competition or competitions in accordance with the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004.
(b) A deputy chairman shall hold office subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform determines.]
F5[(1A) A person who immediately before the commencement of section 79 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 stood appointed as deputy chairman shall, from such commencement, continue to be deputy chairman for the unexpired period of the term of his appointment subject to the same terms and conditions as applied to his appointment immediately before such commencement.
(1B) The Minister may reappoint a person whose term of office as deputy chairman expires by the efflux of time to be a deputy chairman, and paragraph (a) of subsection (1) shall not apply in respect of the reappointment of such person.
(1C) Where a person—
(a) appointed under subsection (1) to be a deputy chairman,
(b) who continues to be a deputy chairman by virtue of subsection (1A), or
(c) reappointed in accordance with subsection (1B) to be a deputy chairman,
is, for whatever reason, unable to perform his functions as deputy chairman and the Minister is of the opinion that his inability to so perform his functions would unduly disrupt the performance by the Court or a division of the Court of its functions, a temporary vacancy among the deputy chairmen shall be deemed to exist and the Minister may, after consultation with the chairman, appoint a person to fill that temporary vacancy subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister shall determine.
(1D) If a deputy chairman dies, resigns, ceases to be qualified for office and ceases to hold office or is removed from office, or a deputy chairman’s term of office expires and he is not reappointed under subsection (1B), the Minister may appoint a person to be a deputy chairman to fill the vacancy so occasioned pending the appointment of a deputy chairman to fill that vacancy in accordance with subsection (1), and the person so appointed shall hold office subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, determines.]
F4[(2) (a) The Minister may designate a deputy chairman to perform the functions of the chairman in the absence of the chairman or where the office of chairman is vacant, and a deputy chairman so designated shall in such absence or upon such position becoming vacant perform those functions.
(b) References in any enactment shall, for the purposes of the performance of the functions of chairman by a deputy chairman designated under paragraph (a), include references to that deputy chairman.
(c) A person who, immediately before the commencement of section 79 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, stood appointed under subsection (1) shall be deemed to have been designated under paragraph (a).]
(3) F6[…]
(4) F6[…]
(5) F7[…]
(6) No person shall be appointed to be a deputy chairman unless he is ordinarily resident in the State.
(7)F4[The Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 2005 shall not apply to the office of deputy chairman of the Court.]
Annotations:
Amendments:
F4
Substituted (1.08.2015) by Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 79(a), (c) and (e), S.I. No. 338 of 2015.
F5
Inserted (1.08.2015) by Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 79(b), S.I. No. 338 of 2015.
F6
Deleted (1.08.2015) by Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015), s. 79(d), S.I. No. 338 of 2015.
F7
Repealed (18.05.1976) by Industrial Relations Act 1976 (15/1976), s. 8(5), commenced on enactment.
Modifications (not altering text):
C11
Application of subss. (4) to (7) extended (18.05.1976) by Industrial Relations Act 1976 (15/1976), s. 8(3), commenced on enactment.
Additional divisions of the Court.
8.— …
(3) Whenever the Minister makes an order under this section he shall appoint a deputy chairman of the Court, and sections 4 (4) to 4 (7) of the Act of 1969 (as amended by this Act) shall apply in relation to a deputy chairman appointed under this Act as if the references in those sections to a deputy chairman were references to a deputy chairman appointed under this Act.
…
….
Interpretation of employment agreements.
7.—The Court may, at any time, on the application of the parties to an agreement between an employer or a trade union of employers and a worker or a trade union of workers relating to the pay or conditions of employment of any person to whom the agreement relates give its decision as to the interpretation of the agreement or its application to a particular person.
Investigation of trade dispute to be in private.
8.—(1) An investigation of a trade dispute by the Court shall be conducted in private, but the Court shall, if requested to do so by a party to the dispute, conduct the investigation in public.
(2) Where an investigation of a trade dispute is being carried out by the Court in public, the Court may, if it is satisfied that any part of the investigation concerns a matter that should, in the interests of any party to the dispute, be treated as confidential, conduct that part of the investigation in private.
Inclusion of members of the Court on public service arbitration boards.
9.—(1) The membership of any board established either before or after the commencement of this section to report on claims in relation to the pay and conditions of service and matters relating thereto of any person who—
(a) holds a position in the Civil Service of the Government or the Civil Service of the State,
(b) is a member of the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas.
(c) is a member of the Garda Síochána,
(d) is a sub-postmaster,
(e) is employed by a county committee of agriculture, F11[an education and training board] for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941,
(f) is employed as a teacher in a F11[recognised] school, or
(g) is employed by any such body established by or under statute and financed wholly or partly by means of grants or loans made by a Minister of State or the issue of shares taken up by a Minister of State as may be designated from time to time by the Minister for Finance,
shall include one workers’ member of the Court and one employers’ member of the Court who shall be selected by the chairman.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may appoint by order.
Annotations:
Amendments:
F11
Substituted (1.07.2013) by Education and Training Boards Act 2013 (11/2013) s. 72, sch. 6 item 5, S.I. No. 211 of 2013.
Modifications (not altering text):
C12
Functions transferred and references to “Department of Finance” and “Minister for Finance” construed (29.07.2011) by Finance (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 418 of 2011), arts. 2, 3, 5 and sch. 1 part 2, in effect as per art. 1(2).
2. (1) The administration and business in connection with the performance of any functions transferred by this Order are transferred to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
(2) References to the Department of Finance contained in any Act or instrument made thereunder and relating to the administration and business transferred by paragraph (1) shall, on and after the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
3. The functions conferred on the Minister for Finance by or under the provisions of —
(a) the enactments specified in Schedule 1, and
(b) the statutory instruments specified in Schedule 2,
are transferred to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
…
5. References to the Minister for Finance contained in any Act or instrument under an Act and relating to any functions transferred by this Order shall, from the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
The text in italics on this page is sourced from lawreform.ie and is re-published under the Licence for Re-Use of Public Sector Information made pursuant to Directive 2003/98/EC Directive 2013/37/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the re-use of public sector information transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Re-Use of Public Sector Information) Regulations 2005 to 2015.