Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I will investigate whether that is the case and if that is undermining the position. My understanding is that the insolvency fund will be called into action to honour commitments to employees. I will take note of what the Deputy said. He said that the company that went into administration is still trading. I will investigate that.

Deputy Buttimer asked what the next move is in respect of Vita Cortex. An application has been made under the terms of the Redundancy Acts to the Department of Social Protection. In the normal course of events it will pay out money to the workers when it has assessed the claim and seek to recover moneys from the employer. There is also a question of redundancy sums being pursued which are beyond statutory redundancy. That is not covered by the Department of Social Protection. The LRC is maintaining contact with both sides to see whether there is scope to intervene. That is the difficulty. Through the LRC we will keep a close eye on matters and consider whether there is anything we can do to intervene.

On the question of social welfare and KPMG being involved in other cases, it does appear that KPMG and Mandate had discussions that resulted in a fruitful outcome in that case. Like the Deputy, I was surprised at the initial response that appeared to be forthcoming, but the administrator seems to have mended its hand and that issue has been resolved. I can understand the impatience of Deputies. Our system relies on co-operation from both sides, particularly employers, in honouring their responsibilities and is meant to maintain a voluntary approach. It has served us well for many years and across many disputes. We have established expertise that is clearly being put under strain by these disputes, but we will keep a watching brief and seek to make it work to the advantage of workers who are exposed in this way.

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