Vol. 539 No. 2
58 Mr. Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has satisfied herself with the present structure in relation to redundancies; if she is further satisfied with the statutory payments; the plans she has to improve the payments; the plans she has to provide special payments for persons with long service in a company; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19287/01]
The ceiling on weekly wages for calculating the amount of a statutory redundancy lump sum was raised from £300 per week, £15,600, to £400 per week, £20,800, from 1 April 2001, thereby improving the amount of the lump sum for employees whose earnings are in excess of £300 per week.
At present, the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967-1991, provide a higher rate for employees with long service in that the over 41 age group is allowed a week's pay at the gross rate of pay for every year of service as opposed to a half week's pay for those under the age of 41 years. It is not proposed to change the present format of calculating statutory redundancy lump sums in the immediate future.
59 Mr. Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her proposals to deal with redundancy payments to employees where companies stop trading or go into liquidation apart from the statutory payments that employees are entitled to under legislation at present. [19288/01]
The statutory redundancy payments provided for in the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967-1991, are the only compensation available to employees who lose their jobs when companies stop trading or go into liquidation.
There are no plans in hand to legislate for payments over and above the statutory amounts. Payments over and above the statutory amounts are a matter for negotiation between the employer and the employee or a trade union acting on their behalf. Disputes about the level of such payments, which cannot be resolved through local negotiations, may be referred to the Labour Relations Commission, the Labour Court or the rights commissioner service.
