New legislation to deal with workplace bullying will not be considered until next October at the earliest, Minister of State for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen indicated yesterday.
An expert group which reported to the Government on the issue last August called for "strong action" by the State and employers to combat the problem.
The Expert Advisory Group on Workplace Bullying identified a catalogue of failures in the State's response to a problem that it said affects tens of thousands of Irish workers.
Its key recommendation was that new legislation be introduced to deal with the problem.
Mr Killeen said at the time, however, that he would need to consult with the social partners, who were represented on the expert group, before implementing the report.
He said he hoped to bring proposals to the Government "within a year or so", meaning by August this year.
In a speech at a seminar in Cork yesterday he indicated that implementation of the group's report faced an additional delay of several months.
One of the expert group's main recommendations had been that a survey be carried out to establish the extent of the problem of workplace bullying, he said.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment was currently evaluating tenders by organisations seeking to carry out the survey. He said the study would "not be available until about next October".
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