Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I propose therefore to reduce the rebate to 15%. While this may cause difficulties for some employers it should be noted that redundancy rebate payments to employers are not common in many EU and other jurisdictions. In the UK, for example, the redundancy payment is funded 100% by the employer and there is no recovery from the State. Given the low level of employer PRSI payable in Ireland, I do not see why we should dip in to a fund that is already in deficit to compensate often profitable companies for the cost of making their employees redundant in Ireland and, in some cases, transferring their employment abroad. We should spend our money on retaining jobs and not on incentivising redundancy.

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