Vol. 549 No. 3
90 Mr. Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she made an ex gratia payment to the former workers of a company (details supplied); if so, the details of same; her views on whether she can implement the same type of ex gratia payment to the former workers of a company (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6347/02]
The payment of additional moneys, in excess of statutory entitlements, for workers who have lost their jobs is primarily a matter for agreement between employers and employees. In the two previous cases, additional payments were made to former employees under specific statutory provisions. In the case of Irish Hospitals Trust the workers had been, in effect, working on behalf of the State for many years by raising funds for the development of hospitals. Special legislation was passed by the Oireachtas in June 2000 to facilitate making payments of €25,400 to certain former employees of this company. Under the Irish Shipping Limited (Payments to Former Employees) Act, 1994, the then Department of the Marine made ex gratia lump sum payments totalling some €4 million in respect of 313 former employees or their representatives. In the current case, the workers have received their statutory redundancy entitlements under the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 2001, and there is no legislative basis under the Acts for making an ex gratia payment to the employees.
