Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 11:

In page 9, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:“7. Any employer who has had a finding made against them of unfair dismissal under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007, must reimburse to the State the cost of the unfairly dismissed former employee’s social welfare payments from the date of the dismissal up to the decision of the Employment Appeals Tribunal.”.

It is a pity we were unable to discuss some of the previous amendments, but that is the nature of the game. I have made this proposal on a number of occasions. I have submitted an amendment of this type in the context of a number of social welfare Bills. I am making this positive proposal at a time when the State is trying to recover everything that is due to it. When a worker who has been unfairly dismissed wins a case at the Employment Appeals Tribunal and gets an award, a deduction is made by the State from the person's social welfare payment but the money in question is not recovered from the employer who should have been paying this person.

In other words, the person has enjoyed the benefit of the social welfare payment, but the State is never reimbursed by the employer.

It is difficult to calculate how much might be recouped to the State under this provision, but the volume of cases going to the Employment Appeals Tribunal has been increasing substantially in recent years. In 2008, for example, 5,457 cases were submitted to the tribunal, but this had increased to 6,000 by 2010. These figures suggest that the Exchequer could be losing out to the tune of several million euro. I estimate the loss at between €2 million and possibly as high as €10 million given the delays in hearing cases at the tribunal, but I will err on the side of caution by opting for the lower figure. In the current climate, a person who has been unfairly dismissed may well struggle to find alternative work and will instead be dependent on social welfare. Where an unfair dismissal claim is upheld, the individual will receive compensation for loss of earnings. Why should the State not also be compensated for the cost of supporting that person through the period of unemployment?

Unfortunately, it seems the State is eager to recover moneys from social welfare recipients, as we discussed on Committee Stage, but not to pursue employers for the costs of supporting employees who are unfairly dismissed. There might even be a case for applying the provision in the amendment retrospectively. Even if that is not possible, I urge the Minister to accept it and ensure the State is compensated in future in such cases. If she is not inclined to accept the amendment, I ask that she consider it for inclusion in the next Social Welfare and Pensions Bill.

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