Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 99: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation if he will confirm that in the case of a constructive dismissal in the private sector of an individual with more than ten years' service, if the employer liable for redundancy payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17838/10]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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An employee who is constructively dismissed is not entitled to statutory redundancy under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967-2003. In a redundancy situation, the job or position must, in fact, actually cease to exist, for example, due to the closure, liquidation or rationalisation of the employer's business. However, in a dismissal situation, the job position does not automatically cease to exist and may be occupied by another employee or person carrying out the duties.

An employee, who has been constructively dismissed, can seek redress by making a claim to the Employment Appeals Tribunal under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1997 to 2001.

Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 100: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation if he will review the application for redundancy of a person (details supplied) in County Cork who has worked for the same company for 22 years and was made redundant but whose employer said they could not afford to pay redundancy; the current status of this application; when the redundancy will be awarded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17853/10]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. There are two types of payment made from the SIF – rebates to those employers who have paid statutory redundancy to eligible employees, and statutory lump sums to employees whose employers are insolvent and/or in receivership/liquidation.

I can confirm that my Department received a redundancy lump sum claim from the employee concerned on 19 April, 2010. The claim is awaiting processing.

In respect of lump sum payments paid directly to employees, such as in this instance, the Section is, in general, processing claims dating from September 2009.

In instances such as this, where the employer does not formally wind the company up but goes into informal insolvency and is unable to pay the statutory redundancy entitlements, the Department seeks from the employer evidence of inability to pay the entitlements to the employees. This involves requesting a statement from the company's Accountant or Solicitor attesting to the inadequacy of assets to make the redundancy payments and, the latest set of financial accounts for the company. The employer is also asked to admit liability for the 40% liability attaching to the company arising from the redundancy payments. If this information is provided to the Department, the employees are paid their redundancy entitlement from the Social Insurance Fund. Upon payment, the Department pursues the company for the 40% share that the company would ordinarily have been expected to pay to the employees.

If the necessary supporting documentation required from the employer is not provided to my Department, the employee will be advised by my Department to take a case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) against the employer to seek a determination establishing the employee's right and entitlement to redundancy. Once such a determination is available, the Department is then in a position to make the payment to the employee concerned. Should the outstanding documentation be provided by the employer during the period while the case is pending a hearing before the EAT, this would allow the claim to be processed by my Department in the usual way.

I should point out that the impact on business of the severe economic circumstances currently pertaining has resulted in an unprecedented increase in the level of Redundancy Payment claims lodged with my Department. This has impacted significantly on the capacity to maintain the customer service targets that previously obtained. The scale of the challenge on the Redundancy side is evident from the statistics that show incoming redundancy claims in 2009 amounted to 77,001 which represents a threefold increase over the level of claims lodged in 2007 and earlier years. In 2007, claims received were of the order of 25,000.

Efforts continue to be made by my Department to deliver more acceptable turnaround processing times for Redundancy payments given the difficulties that this gives rise to for both individual employees and the business community. Measures already taken in the Department in 2009 to alleviate the pressures on the Payments area include:

· almost doubling the number of staff through reassignment to a current level of 52 full time equivalents;

· prioritisation of the Department's overtime budget towards staff in the both Section to tackle the backlog outside normal hours;

· establishment of a special call handling facility in NERA to deal with the huge volume of telephone calls from people and businesses concerned about their payments.

· Better quality information relating to current processing times on the Department's website;

· Engagement with the Revenue Commissioners to facilitate the offset of redundancy rebate payments by employers against outstanding tax liabilities which those employers owe to the Revenue Commissioners.

The backlog and waiting times remain at unacceptable levels. However, improvements are evident. The number of claims processed and paid by the Redundancy Payments Section in 2009 amounted to 50,664, an increase of 70% over 2008. In the first quarter of 2010, my Department processed 21,122 claims - an increase of over 151% on the previous first quarter in 2009. Claims processed in the month of March 2010 was the highest ever achieved in the Section with 8,168 claims processed in the month. In the year to date, inroads have being made on the backlog of claims on hand, which reduced from 41,168 at the end January 2010 to 37,054 at the end of March 2010.

Responsibility for the payment of redundancy and insolvency payments is due to be transferred to the Department of Social Protection. The intention is to transfer by Government order, the payment functions arising under the Redundancy Payment and Insolvency Payment schemes. In transferring the functions between Departments, it is the intention that this will operate seamlessly and without any adverse impact on the service levels being experienced by individuals or the business community awaiting payment of redundancy claims.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 101: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the reason a redundancy payment claim in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Wexford, with all required documentation, submitted to his Department in August 2009 has not been processed to completion; if he will expedite a decision and payment in this case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18000/10]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. There are two types of payment made from the SIF – rebates to those employers who have paid statutory redundancy to eligible employees, and statutory lump sums to employees whose employers are insolvent and/or in receivership/ liquidation.

I can confirm that my Department received a redundancy lump sum claim from the employee concerned on 19 August, 2010. This claim is at an advanced stage of processing and payment is expected to issue within the next two weeks.