Phil Hogan
Ceist:127 Mr. Hogan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will make ex gratia payments to the workers of a company (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18577/03]
Written Answers. - Company Closures.
The position is that the company concerned made 153 workers at its factory redundant, mostly in December 2002 and January 2003. The company paid them their statutory redundancy lump sum entitlements plus some extra statutory amounts. My Department has repaid the company its entitlement to a 60% rebate of the statutory amount.
I understand that the workers and their representatives are now making the case that they lost out on payment of the new enhanced statutory redundancy lump sum by virtue of the fact that the new Redundancy Payments Act 2003 was not backdated. The clear legal advice to me from the Office of the Attorney General is that it is not legally allowable to place a retrospective requirement on employers to make additional enhanced payments. In this particular case the workers were made redundant and paid their entitlements towards the end of last year and early this year but the new enhanced redundancy rates were subsequently agreed with the social partners and given legislative effect by the Oireachtas with effect from 25 May last, when I signed the required commencement order.
The Deputy is now asking me to consider making ex gratia payments to the workers. There are many thousands of workers in similar circumstances. The questions I have to consider as Tánaiste and Minister with responsibility in this area are if I could make the statutory payments retrospective, how far back would be reasonable; the huge additional cost imposition on either the Exchequer or the social insurance fund; and what would be fair and reasonable in all circumstances. My only conclusion, although unfortunate for the workers concerned, is that retrospective or ex gratia payments are not justified.