731. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of workplace relations inspectors employed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35657/19]

732. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of workplace relations inspections that took place in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35658/19]

733. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of breaches of employment law identified by workplace relations inspectors in 2018, by offence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35659/19]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 731 to 733, inclusive, together.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent, statutory body under the aegis of my Department, established on 1st October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015. The WRC’s core services include the inspection of employment rights compliance, the provision of information, adjudicating on complaints under employment protection, equality and industrial relations legislation and the provision of mediation, conciliation, facilitation and advisory services.

The Inspectorate Division of the WRC carries out inspections of employer records with a view to determining compliance with employment rights legislations. These inspections arise:

- In response to complaints received of alleged non-compliance with relevant employment rights legislation;

- As part of compliance campaigns which focus on compliance in specific sectors or specific pieces of legislation; or

- From routine inspections (announced and unannounced) which act as an overall control measure.

The WRC Inspectorate is staffed by civil servants of my department. As at 21 August 2019, there are a total of 57 WRC Labour Inspectors. Table 1 provides details of the grade, number and regional location of the inspectors.

The aim of the WRC Inspectorate is to achieve voluntary compliance with employment law through the provision of education and awareness, inspection of employers’ employment records and enforcement where necessary. While every effort is made to secure compliance, some employers either refuse or fail to rectify the breaches identified and/or pay money due to their employees. These cases are referred for prosecution. Table 2 lists the numbers of employers inspected by the WRC Inspectors and the number of employers where breaches were detected in 2018. Please note that an employer may be in breach in more than one category.

Table 3 lists the number of inspections carried out by the WRC Inspectorate, by sector, in 2018.

Table 1 Number of WRC Inspectors as at 21 August 2019:

Table 2 lists the numbers of employers inspected by the WRC and the number of employers where breaches were detected in 2018. Please note that an employer may be in breach in more than one category.

Table 3 lists the number of WRC Inspections by sector in 2018.