Firstly, I want to say my thoughts are with the employees of Iceland (Ireland). I appreciate that this is an incredibly stressful time for them and their families, with huge uncertainty.
Ireland has an existing strong legislative restructuring framework for companies and there is a suite of employment rights legislation in place to protect impacted workers.
I and my colleagues in Government absolutely expect every employer to comply with their legal and statutory obligations in this regard.
The main corporate recovery process for companies in Ireland is the long-standing and internationally recognised examinership framework. This court-supervised process is available to insolvent companies that have a reasonable prospect of survival.
The examiner’s role is to assess a company’s viability, attempt to secure investment and formulate proposals for restructuring during a protection period, which can last up to 100 days..
Where it appears to the court that there is evidence of irregularities in respect of a company’s affairs, the Court will hold a hearing to consider that evidence. The examiner is required to report to the court on the outcome of the process and must also deliver a copy of the examiner’s report to the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA)
The CEA, which is statutorily independent in the performance of its functions, has responsibilities under company law in assessing directors’ conduct. Alleged breaches of company law can be brought to the attention of the CEA by any party. Where a breach of company law has been clearly established, the CEA will take action as appropriate. The CEA operates under a statutory duty of confidentiality and, as such, does not comment on individual matters.
As examinership is overseen by the court, it is important not to prejudge the outcome of the examinership and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on this specific case.
However, I want to emphasise that workers have statutory rights under a broad range of employment rights legislation. Where employees believe their employment rights have been breached, they have the right to refer complaints to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for an adjudication and possible redress. The WRC is independent in the performance of its functions.
Where Government plays a role is by ensuring that there is a framework of legislative protections for workers and a mechanism for them to seek redress if needed.
I understand from media reports that some employees may have made complaints to the WRC. I must respect the independence of the WRC in making its determination in these cases so I cannot comment further.
