Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 September 2021
132. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of collective redundancies on a monthly basis have been notified to his Department in July and August and to date in September 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43751/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment is responsible for ensuring that the legislative requirements for consultation and notification of potential redundancies to the Minister are complied with.
The notifications do not reflect the total number of actual redundancies that take place across the workforce, since not all notified redundancies result in actual redundancies, as employers sometimes successfully negotiate with their workforce to restructure the business and find alternative solutions during the 30-day consultation period.
Employers are obliged to notify collective redundancies where, during any period of 30 consecutive days, the employees being made redundant reach or exceed the following thresholds:
- 5 employees where 21-49 are employed,
- 10 employees where 50-99 are employed,
- 10% of the employees where 100-299 are employed,
- 30 employees where 300 or more are employed.
Other redundancies outside of these parameters are not required to be notified to the Minister.
- In July, four notifications were received for 1,661 potential redundancies,
- In August, two notifications for 130 potential redundancies were received, and
- at 9th September, there was one notification regarding 59 potential redundancies.
These are provisional figures from a small number of companies, which now need to be discussed and agreed between employers, workers and their unions. The Government's plan to rebuild the economy will help get people back to work and create new long-term high quality future jobs.
The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme stays in place at least until the end of the year. Government backed low cost loans are available. There is a new simplified restructuring procedure for SMEs. We will continue to safeguard as many businesses and jobs as possible during the recovery.
