Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 July 2016
118. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Education and Skills the way workers of a company (details supplied) can access the European globalisation adjustment fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23128/16]
View answerApplications seeking EU co-financing under the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) for labour market activation programmes, in support of workers made redundant by the adverse effects of globalisation or global financial and economic crises, are made by Member States to the European Commission and must be duly approved by the EU budgetary authorities.
In Ireland, EGF applications are made by the Department of Education and Skills and the EGF Managing Authority in the Department considers all collective redundancy notifications and potential cases arising with a view to making applications where considered feasible. The required number of redundancies for which an EGF application may be made under Regulation EU No. 1309/2013 is at least 500 redundancies within a four or nine months period but this number may be lower where exceptional circumstances are deemed to apply under the EU Regulation. Since 2009 the Irish authorities have made 10 successful applications for EGF co-financing and under the seven closed Irish EGF programmes to date almost 10,000 redundant workers have been assisted with guidance, training, education and enterprise supports.
The EGF Managing Authority has duly considered the known facts of the case referred to by the Deputy including the collective redundancy notification issued by the company to the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. On the basis of this information these redundancies do not meet a number of intrinsic requirements, including the scope and intervention criteria, of Regulation (EU) No. 1309/2013 which governs the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). Rather than the redundancies occurring as a result of adverse globalisation impacts, the reason being cited by the company for these redundancies is a direct consequence of the bringing into force of EU legislation, namely the EU Tobaccos Products Directive 2014/40/EU. The European Commission has been consulted by the Department and has confirmed that this rationale does not constitute eligible grounds for the making of an EGF application. In this context, the Department considers that a feasible application for EGF co-financing support cannot be made in this case.
