Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 February 2019
251. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that a person (details supplied) did not receive notice or was consulted on the closure of a project; if her attention has been further drawn to the fact that this person did not receive pay or redundancy in lieu of notice; if the issue will be rectified; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6090/19]
View answerThe person to whom the Deputy is referring was employed by a Community Employment (CE) scheme as a CE supervisor.
CE schemes are typically sponsored by voluntary and community organisations wishing to benefit the local community. As the employers, these sponsoring organisations contract with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, on an annual basis, to provide job seekers and other vulnerable groups with good quality work experience and training qualifications to support their progression into employment.
CE supervisors are employees of these organisations, which are private companies. They are not employees of my Department or public servants. The issues outlined by the Deputy are a matter between the person concerned and their employer.
It is the responsibility of the employer to pay statutory redundancy payments to all its eligible employees. In the event that the employer cannot pay the statutory entitlements due to financial difficulties, my Department can step in to pay the amounts from the Social Insurance Fund.
As the employer in this case was unable to pay the redundancy entitlement, the redundancy claim was submitted to my Department and payment was made from the Social Insurance Fund.
The purpose of the Insolvency Payments Scheme, which operates under the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Act, as amended, is to protect certain outstanding pay-related entitlements due to employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer.
These entitlements include wages, holiday pay, sick pay, payment in lieu of minimum notice due under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts, 1973-2001, and certain pension contributions. Various other statutory awards made by the Work Place Relations Commission, etc., are also covered by the scheme.
Where a person’s former employer was a limited company, the company must be in liquidation or receivership in order for the person to be eligible to claim under the Insolvency Payments Scheme.
The employer does not satisfy the requirements to enable payment to be made under the Insolvency Payment Scheme.
