Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 October 2017
270. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason a number of persons (details supplied) employed by a company for 15 and 21 years, respectively, have not yet received overdue wages and holiday pay after the company prematurely exited a contract with Pobal under the community services programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45310/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra271. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the avenue of redress that is available to previous employees of a company (details supplied) that are seeking payment of overdue wages and holiday pay after the company ceased to provide services and prematurely exited a contract with Pobal under the community services programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45311/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 270 and 271 together.
As the Deputy is aware, the Community Services Programme (CSP) provides financial support to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a socially inclusive nature. CSP supports voluntary and community organisations in providing essential services and businesses to their communities.
The organisation referred to by the Deputy decided to voluntarily exit the CSP in advance of the end of their current contract with Pobal, who operate the CSP on behalf of my Department.
The organisation has been in contact with Pobal regarding their final exit payments. Holiday pay has been taken into account with their final claim and staff were paid up to and including the week ending the 26th of May. However, with holiday pay this brought the final exit date to 8th of June.
The company also requested additional payments for TOIL and sick leave from 2016. This was ruled out by Pobal for the following reasons:
- The company had already claimed the full wage contribution for all staff in the 2016 so there can be no further claim for 2016 for these FTEs. If any days or hours are owed to these staff members, it will have to be funded from monies already paid to the company or alternatively from the company’s own monies.
- If an individual is in receipt of their full salary while on sick/maternity leave, the sick/maternity benefit received from this Department should be taken into account and off-set against the grant expenditure when the benefit is received.
In this case it appears that the company claimed sick pay for an employee but did not offset it against wages and, therefore, claimed both wages and sick pay.
The above information has been communicated to the company. Furthermore, the Board of Management were informed that, as the employer who holds the contract of employment with its staff, it is up to the Board to ensure rules and regulations are adhered to and that any irregular payments are investigated and monies returned.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
