The Labour Court has reported a 30 per cent increase in the number of cases referred to it in 2003.
In its annual report for 2003, the court said it received 1,220 referrals compared with 940 the previous year.
Referrals under industrial relations legislation constituted over 85 per cent of the main business of the court.
However, the chairman of the Labour Court, Mr Kevin Duffy, said the increase in referrals did not indicate a worsening industrial relations climate.
Mr Duffy said: "On the industrial relations front generally, the overall position remains one of relative stability".
He said the 30 per cent increase was mainly attributable to a significant rise in the number of complaints received from employer and trade union bodies alleging breaches by construction industry employers of the terms of the Registered Employment Agreement for that industry on pension, assurance and sick pay provisions.
Mr Duffy said: "While there was an increase in the number of days lost due to industrial disputes, this was on an historically low base in 2002 (the lowest number of days lost in over 30 years)."
The report said there was a fall in the number of equality cases referred to the Court, with 84 cases being received in 2003 compared to 102 in 2002.
Claims of discrimination on grounds of gender accounted for the majority of equality referrals, with a significant proportion of these relating to dismissal on grounds of pregnancy.