Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 June 2020
1121. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount her Department issued in 2018, 2019 and to date in 2020 in statutory redundancy payments to workers whose employers became insolvent and went into liquidation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9136/20]
View answerEntitlement to a redundancy payment is defined under the Redundancy Payments Act. It is the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy payments to eligible employees.
In situations where an employer is unable to pay these entitlements due to financial difficulties or insolvency an application for payment under the Redundancy Payments Scheme may be submitted to the Department. The Department will make the statutory redundancy payment to eligible employees on behalf of the employer.
The Redundancy Payments Scheme is funded from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). When such a redundancy payment is made from the fund, a debt is raised against the employer. The Department will engage with employers to establish their financial situation on a case by case basis and seeks to recover the debt on a mutually agreed basis, including repayments by instalment, where appropriate. This ensures that the scheme takes into account both an employer's ability to pay redundancy payments and that the Social Insurance Fund can be reimbursed in due course. Where redundancy payments have been made following the appointment of a liquidator, the Department is a preferential creditor.
Since 2018, liquidation was given as the reason for the non-payment of redundancy by the employer in just over 50% of redundancy payment scheme applications.
The approximate value of applications received for the redundancy payments scheme as a result of the liquidation of the employer is as follows:
|
2018 |
€11.7m |
|
2019 |
€10.9m |
|
2020 (to April) |
€2m |
