Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State. I could not be more thrilled to see her here presenting this Bill. I am delighted she is here in the Seanad. She is very welcome.

I have a background in employment law and have been involved in collective redundancies over the years so I particularly welcome this Bill. It is very good legislation. The consultative process is a very valuable tool. Pardon me for referring to my WhatsApp but I have a document on it. There has been case law that says that that consultative period has to be real and meaningful. The idea, I suppose, is to have this collective input from employee representatives as well as trade unions where there are trade unions, but where there is no trade union recognition there must be employee representatives. The WRC's website is particularly good on setting out how to do that. It is a fantastic website as a resource for employers. Employees should get an opportunity to say they appreciate that there are difficulties, changes and challenges to the company and to have an input into addressing those challenges.

It does not always work out. Sometimes it is an irredeemable situation and, unfortunately, results in a redundancy, but at least having that formalised process is an exceptionally good thing. We have seen the abuses of it. We have seen tactical redundancies and similar instances. The Minister of State's Department has been very good in engaging particularly with the trade unions in that regard, and the consultation with ICTU has been very good on this and this Bill.

For the vast majority who end up in collective redundancies, however, it is not tactical but due to a change in circumstances or a change in buying patterns or something else. My experience of this is that it has been in terrible situations of hardship. As regards the holding and safeguarding of that consultative process, there is a criminal provision in the original Act. I think €250,000 is the fine a company can face. Having actual employee redress in it is very important, so that development and that amendment in this legislation is really good because it is really important. It has to be valuable and proper engagement. We have seen Tara Mines turn around from what looked like a dreadful prospect to seeing employment come back there and the situation renewed. I applaud that. It is a very good provision.

Including liquidators in the definitions is really important as well. That is under section 4, the amendment of the definition of "responsible person". Unfortunately, employees are not high enough in the food chain when it comes to ensuring the distribution of assets. As a result, we have the backup of the fund that will meet the payments to employees in the event that there is no money in a company. Unfortunately, however, employees whose lives depend on this, who are paying rent or mortgages and who suddenly find themselves in this terrible situation with perhaps only 30 days' notice need to be considered and accommodated.I also applaud that.

There has been great engagement. We need an information campaign. I am not sure that employers understand this area. My experience of them is that when they reach the stage of collective redundancy, they state what they are facing is awful and ask what they must do, what money is in the bank and how they will deal with the matter but do not necessarily understand it. While the WRC website is a really good resource, not everybody thinks of looking at it. In the information the CRO sends to directors, it would be no harm in having information directing people to the WRC website. The rights of employees should also be communicated to them. If an employee files a claim on the WRC website, there are many drop-down menus and such things. It would be good to have in an employer handbook an obligation of notification, perhaps achievable by a statutory instrument at some point in the future.

While the Minister of State is here, and given that the WRC is her gig, there are two more points I would like to raise. Making a claim on the WRC website involves something of an impediment in that Adobe is required. If people do not have Adobe, they are directed to a website to download it. I am aware that there are people who have to resort to phoning the WRC or the likes of me in the hope of making the system a little more accessible. If they do not have access to the required format, it is a little difficult. Maybe this could be addressed or just looked into to ensure the system is accessible to everyone. There was a time when people could just download the form but we want to move away from that because the current system is much more efficient. It is incredibly efficient.

In some instances, there can be long waiting times for decisions in the WRC. Over the past year, people in my sphere have had to write to the director to ask where the decision is and state they have been waiting a long time for it. In one instance, we were waiting for two years for a decision. Perhaps this could also be addressed.

There are other matters I will raise privately with the Minister of State. I congratulate her and commend her on this legislation. It is very good and brings the law up to date. There has been good consultation and the work has been done very professionally. I also commend the Department and the officials on that. I thank the Minister of State.