asked the Minister for Labour if any financial assistance is made available to a worker making an appeal to the High Court against his exclusion from the provisions of the Redundancy Act.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Redundancy Act Appeals.
43.
An appeal to the High Court can be made only on a point of law under the Redundancy Payments Acts.
The Acts provide that if a person appeals to the High Court from a decision by the Redundancy Appeals Tribunal, on a point of law, the court may, at its discretion, order the payment by the Minister for Labour from the redundancy fund of the costs, in whole or in part as so ordered.
Would the Minister accept that that is not very inviting for the unfortunate labourer who may have failed initially in his claim?
There have been three cases in respect of which there were appeals. In the first, costs were given against the employer and in the other two it was ordered that the costs would be paid from the redundancy fund. Therefore, in so far as these three cases were concerned, the employees did not lose anything.
Would the Minister agree that the provision is very inhibiting in the case of disappointed workers who may be anxious to make a deal?
I would be anxious to ensure, as no doubt would the Minister concerned, that workers would have available to them every means possible of establishing justice. However, I will refer the Deputy's remarks to the Minister for Labour and ask him to have a look at the situation.