asked the Minister for Labour if he is aware that the Employment Appeals Tribunal in a decision dated 21 May 1984 imposed the onus of application to the court on an unemployed and redundant worker without first ascertaining if the liquidator would refuse to apply for leave of the court; and if, in view of the specific enactment in section 32 (1) of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967, that an employee has only to take "all reasonable steps (other than legal proceedings"), to claim a redundancy lump sum, it is his intention to make an application to the tribunal to have this important matter further examined and clarified as unemployed redundant workers have neither the means nor the resources to undertake the cost of legal proceedings in the High Court in order to obtain access to the tribunal, especially when the statutory requirements of the Acts in respect of which the tribunal functions have been complied with by unemployed claimants.
Written Answers. - Employment Appeals Tribunal.
I understand that the necessity for the worker in the case concerned to apply for leave of the High Court arose from a decision of the tribunal that it was a matter for the parties concerned to remove any obstacles to the hearing of the appeal. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the tribunal decision and there is no basis on which I could request the tribunal to reconsider the matter.
However, as I indicated in a reply to Question No. 443 by the Deputy of 21 June 1984, I am consulting with the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism, as the Minister responsible for the Companies Acts, as regard the implications of the reliance by the liquidator in the case on the provisions of section 222 of the Companies Act, 1963.