The Government response to the stunning fact that there are 59 cases of unfair dismissal which cannot be progressed is superficial and weak. Some of those cases have been waiting for the appointment of a chairperson for more than two years.
The Government’s attempt to rely on the Law Council Chairman’s speech at the Opening of the Legal Year as a defence shield is of no help to all those people who are facing the inability to progress their claims. In any event it is clear that the Law Council Chairman was, with some diplomacy, glossing over an appalling and long-standing due process situation in the hopeful expression that solutions will soon be found. It is obvious that whatever is being done has been slow and ineffective if there are people waiting more than 2 years just for the appointment of a chairperson for their particular case. In the meantime, those cases are not progressing. The Government press release is vague and gives little by way of specific immediate solutions to those waiting. How long is a person who filed their claim as far back as January, March or June 2020 expected to wait for an appointment of a chairperson so the claim can progress?
It is for the Government to find prompt solutions so that claims can be progressed and determined. The fact that there are so many cases waiting to progress is appalling. What is worse still is that nothing in Mr Linares’s remarks as the Minister responsible points to a specific resolution for those people. They are entitled to expect specific commitments by now and not more empty promises that things will happen.
For Mr Linares to end on a self-congratulatory note about the “undeniable progress to date” will sound like Alice in Wonderland to all the people who haven’t been able to progress their claims in the last two years. How long more are those people expected to wait specifically?
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