asked the Minister for Labour if he will state in relation to CIE workers, who have become redundant in their own stations, what benefits they are entitled to when transferred to another station.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Benefits of Transferred CIE Workers.
96.
The benefits payable to a CIE rail operative in the circumstances described by the Deputy have been negotiated between CIE and the trade unions and are not governed by statute.
There is provision, however, in the Transport Acts for lump sum compensation where an employee suffers a worsening of his conditions of service.
In the case of a transfer is it not laid down in the Redundancy Act that he is entitled to subsistence and other benefits while he is away from home?
This properly belongs to the CIE scheme. In the Redundancy Act, as passed by this House and brought into operation, there is a resettlement scheme whereby a worker going from one area to another to seek employment, if it is not available in his own area, would get certain benefits. They would have to be applied for, and they would be granted if the conditions were fulfilled.
Where workers are transferred because of redundancy at a certain station will they not qualify for the benefits outlined in the Redundancy Act—when they are transferred because of lack of work?
When an employee is declared redundant, if an employer offers him the same type of employment the employee is expected to take it, unless he has very strong reasons for not taking it—if he feels he is worsening his conditions or that it is making his home life impossible or something like that. If there is a dispute he can take it to an appeals tribunal. If he is given alternative employment by the same employer, if he accepts it, he is not regarded as redundant.