Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has announced a number of developments in the areas of employment rights and industrial relations, in line with promised reforms.

ICTU president Jack O’Connor has called for public sector resources to be redeployed to support the state’s overwhelmed labour relations machinery, if the Government is “serious about respecting peoples’ rights”.

REFERRALS to third party industrial relations bodies went up by 30% between 2007 and 2008, according to the annual report of the Labour Court released yesterday.

Taxi drivers have vowed to push ahead with their planned protest at Dublin Airport tomorrow, demanding a right of appeal to decisions by the Taxi Regulator.

Employment legislation must be reduced and simplified to make it more accessible to the general public, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern insisted today.