John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)

Last Tuesday I raised the issue of PRSI being levied on redundancy payments to former employees of Waterford Crystal. I was subsequently contacted by several Deputies, including Deputies Aylward, Kenneally and O'Shea, and have held discussions with the Tánaiste, who gave an undertaking on Tuesday's Order of Business that she would personally examine the matter. Everyone will appreciate that she has followed through on her commitment. It is worth remembering that we are dealing with people who have lost the entire value of their pensions as well as their jobs. Last night I received a response to my parliamentary question to the Department of Finance, which clearly considers the payment as income rather than a redundancy payment.

See this speech in context