Ahern seeks 'decoding' of employment laws

The Taoiseach wants to reform employment and industrial relations legislation by reducing the number of acts governing the sector.

Mr Ahern said 25 acts and eight bodies covered the area, "to say nothing of amending legislation and the various statutory instruments".

He told a Labour Relations Commission (LRC) meeting in Croke Park, Dublin, today that whatever chance those working in the area have of navigating this regulatory maze, the "average citizen has very little".

Mr Ahern suggested the whole area was ripe for reform, starting with the consolidation of a number of pieces of legislation. He also proposed simplifying the language to "decode the system" and the production of guides for the public on their employment rights.

However, he stressed this was not intended to reduce worker protections. "The Government's aim is to help the public and the expert  practitioner to decode  the  system;  to  help them have a better appreciation  of  their  rights,  and  the  means  of  redress  and dispute resolution open to them."

Mr Ahern said the issue of job creation had largely been addressed and focus was now shifting to providing quality jobs and improving the skills in the workforce.

He noted concerns remained, however, particularly in terms of labour supply and costs. The Government would have to fund life-long learning programmes and retrain those in declining sectors.

Work also remains to be done on improving the work-life balance, which would allow more women into the workforce and encourage people to stay in employment later into their lives.

"This will inevitably see a continued focus on our  childcare and eldercare policies," he said.