Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2020
562. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who have been made permanently redundant in recent months in circumstances unrelated to Covid-19 and in cases in which the business has not yet paid its former staff redundancy payments (details supplied). [25572/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Redundancy Payments Acts provide for the making of payments by employers to employees in respect of redundancy. It is the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy payments to all eligible employees. In the event that an employer fails to pay, an application for payment from the Social Insurance Fund may be submitted to the Department. When such a redundancy payment is made from the Social Insurance Fund, a debt is immediately raised against the employer.
As employers are not required to notify this Department when employees are made redundant there is no central record of total redundancies. The Protection of Employment Act, 1977, outlines circumstances where employers are required to consult with employees in advance of any redundancies and notify the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection of proposed collective redundancies. From March to end of August there were 10,534 proposed collective redundancies notified to the Minister. It is not possible to ascertain if these were COVID-19 related or how many of the proposed redundancies took place following the consultation.
From January to August, 2,161 applications were received under the Redundancy Payments Scheme, an increase of 558 applications on the same period last year.
The emergency measure that was brought into effect from 13th March due to Covid-19 relates to the temporary suspension of an employee’s entitlement to claim redundancy from their employer following periods of temporary lay-off and short–time work. This measure has been extended until 30th November.
The decision to extend this provision has been a difficult one and I acknowledge that it will come as a disappointment for many employees who want certainty in relation to their redundancy entitlements. However, a further extension was considered necessary in order to help keep businesses viable, which in turn ensures permanent job losses are avoided as much as possible. The Government has always been clear that this is a temporary measure and, when the emergency measure ceases to have effect, eligible employees will be able to avail of their legislative entitlement to claim redundancy from their employer.
All other redundancy provisions remain unchanged and in force. If an employer is going to make an employee redundant the employer must comply with their obligations such as notice periods for redundancy and the payment of a redundancy lump-sum to the affected employee.
