My Department has not received notification under the Protection of Employment Act 1977, as amended, or under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2003 about these redundancies at FLS Aerospace. Under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2003, when apprentices are dismissed within a month of completing their apprenticeships they are not entitled to statutory redundancy.
FLS Aerospace Ireland Ltd. has not applied for any work permits since 2001. Parc Aviation Ltd. has indicated that it currently has 84 contract staff on site in FLS of which 71 are Irish, five are EEA and eight are non-EEA on work permits.
The criteria for applying for work permits are the same for all employers that is work permits are issued to employers as permission to employ a named non-EEA worker to work for a specific job for the duration of the permit. An employer applying for a work permit must show that they have made every effort to employ an EU-EEA national and before applying for a work permit, vacancies must be advertised with FÁS for a period of four weeks. The employer may then apply for a work permit from my Department. Full details on the criteria and how to apply are available from my Department's website at www.entemp.ie or by calling the work permits call centre at 01 6313333.
The work permit section has indicated that they are satisfied that the correct criteria and procedures were carried out in regard to the work permit applications in this case. If the Deputy has any specific information to indicate that this is not the case, my Department is prepared to consider the matter further.
