asked the Minister for Labour if he is aware of the following anomalies which have been identified in relation to the operation of the Redundancy Payments Acts: (a) the gradual exclusion of outworkers from the scope of the Act; (b) the gradual exclusion of workers normally in full insurance, due to promotion to supervisory or clerical positions; (c) the gradual exclusion of clerical employees arising from promotion, universal pay increases, et cetera; and (d) the absence of normal protection for the solo-striker; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Redundancy Payments Legislation.
21.
The Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 and 1971, apply to employees who are compulsorily insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts and to such employees who were so insurable in the period of four years preceding their dismissal. Outworkers do not come within the scope of the redundancy payments scheme as they are not regarded as being compulsorily insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts.
As regards (b) and (c) of the Deputy's question, the difficulty for non-manual workers in regard to coverage by the Redundancy Payments Acts arises only when their earnings have exceeded the income limit of £1,600 per annum for compulsory insurance under the Social Welfare Acts for a period of four or more years. Their problem could be solved by the abolition of the income limit for compulsory insurance purposes and I have already announced that I am considering this possibility. The question does, however, involve various problems which may take some time to overcome.
I am not aware as yet of any problem having arisen under the Redundancy Payments Acts in regard to the position of the solo-striker. However, if the Deputy has any specific case in mind, I will be only too glad to look into it.
The Minister will agree I am sure, that a worker who has been employed as a normal worker, stamping a card, and becomes an outworker, gradually loses his right to a redundancy payment. I am sure he will also agree that, since so many announcements have been made about doing away completely with the upper limit for insurability, the easiest way to settle this problem is to do away with it now. Will the Minister give an assurance that it will be dealt with as a matter of urgency?
The Deputy has discussed this in the House on other occasions and he knows that there are certain obstacles in the way of the complete abolition of this limit.
I heard the Minister say it would bring in extra income to the Department. That being so, I cannot understand——
I am not disputing that now but the four-year period during which an insured person remains eligible for redundancy payment, after he exceeds the limit, protects him in the meantime.
So we can expect it within four years.
I did not say any such thing.