asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether his attention has been directed to the hardship inflicted on a number of workmen entitled to weekly payments under the Workmen's Compensation Act owing to the fact that their employers who were insured against the risk of making these payments with the Irish Employers' Mutual Insurance Association, now in liquidation, are unable to meet the weekly payments; whether he is in a position to state what steps he will take to ensure that the workers concerned will be paid the compensation to which they are entitled; and whether he will consider introducing proposals for legislation requiring employers to cover their risks under the Act through a State insurance institution.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - The Workmen's Compensation Act.
I am aware of the present position of the Irish Employers' Mutual Insurance Company, Limited. The company is now in the hands of an official liquidator appointed by the court, and it would not be proper for me to interfere in the matter. The liability of an employer to pay compensation for injuries to his workmen in accordance with the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934, remains, notwithstanding the failure of the assurance company with which the employer had insured the risk to indemnify him. It is not intended to introduce legislative proposals of the kind suggested in the latter part of the Deputy's question.