David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 60, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following:"(10) Where an employer has failed to provide a P45 or other relevant document to a foreign national to whom an employment permit in respect of the purpose referred to in section 3A(2)(a) has been granted further to a dismissal by reason of redundancy within the meaning of section 7(2) of the Act of 1967 the Minister shall be responsible for acquiring such documentation from the employer.".

Amendment No. 16 deals with instances of informal insolvency where an employer may simply cease trading or, for a variety of reasons, fail to provide a migrant worker with the documentation he or she needs to access money under the insolvency fund or social welfare provision. We have seen this happen in many sectors outside the migrant rights sector where employers have failed to formally wind up their companies. A company may be technically insolvent but a liquidator has not been appointed leaving workers in limbo. This can happen to migrant workers resulting in a failure to provide them with the relevant material and documents by an employer.

The point we are making here is that, as the Department and the Minister already have a relationship with the employer, he and the Department should pursue the employer for the necessary documentation to allow the worker to get whatever he or she is entitled to, either under the insolvency fund or through the social welfare system.