Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 November 2005
186 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the recent announcement of a company (details supplied) in County Sligo in relation to the future closure of their plant where an employee has been offered employment elsewhere if they will be entitled to their redundancy package; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37306/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe company in question has announced that it intends to close its Sligo operation by the end of 2006. I understand that the company has commenced a staff consultation process and the outcome of this process will be a phased transfer of the operation outside of Ireland in 2006. The company expects to make all 120 employees in Sligo redundant.
I understand that it is the company's intention to enter into consultations, in accordance with the Protection of Employment Act 1977, with the employee council which will represent employee interests in relation to the proposed redundancies and the company is proposing that the consultation period lasts for an extended timeframe of 60 days. These consultations will include detailed discussions as to the redundancy terms available and the proposed timeframe. Following this process, the company proposes fulfilling all its contractual and statutory notice requirements and is planning to provide redundancy terms over and above the statutory requirements to all employees who are made redundant. The consultation process will be completed before notice of termination of employment is given to any employee.
With regard to an employee who has been offered employment elsewhere, the position in relation to statutory redundancy is as follows: if the employee is transferred to a subsidiary or sister company of his-her present company within this jurisdiction, then he-she would not be entitled to statutory redundancy at this point in time but would carry his-her service with him-her from the old company to the new one and if he-she were subsequently made redundant, then all his-her service from the time he-she commenced employment with the old company would be reckonable for the calculation of his-her statutory redundancy payment; if the employee is offered employment abroad with his-her present company and is subsequently made redundant abroad, then the redundancy scheme of that country would apply. In both of the above circumstances, if the location of the new job or the wages are unacceptable to the employee he-she is entitled to statutory redundancy. Disputes in this regard are resolved by the Employment Appeals Tribunal; and if, on the other hand, the offer of employment within this jurisdiction and the new employment has no legal relationship to the company concerned, then the employee would be entitled to receive redundancy terms from the company concerned and he-she would start afresh with the new company.
