Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My question relates to outstanding Labour Court recommendations Nos. 21162 to 21181, inclusive, and 21185, which refer to SIPTU members who were formerly employed at the Tipperary Hostel on the basis of a job initiative scheme. The hostel closed in 2010 and in 2011 the Employment Appeals Tribunal determined that a genuine redundancy existed. As a result, SIPTU made a direct application to the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the payment of statutory entitlements through the Social Insurance Fund. It took the workers approximately 14 months, through their union, to receive these payments. SIPTU then progressed a claim for enhanced redundancy in line with previous agreements of the Labour Court, which issued its findings on 16 March 2016. The court recommended in all cases an ex gratiapayment of three week's pay per year of service over and above the statutory redundancy payments that were made. The former workers covered by these recommendations are Gary Ryan, Seán Twomey, Patrick Merrigan, Seamus McCarthy, Carmel Mc Grath, Denis Hansen, Michael O'Dwyer, Oliver Keogh, Richard Capliss, Michael Ward, Ian Dawson, Richard Brennan, Michael Cohen, David Ryan, Gerard Culhane, John Joseph Lyndon, Dominic Frewen, Pat Morrissey, Seán Carew, Philip Wilson and Cornelius Connors.

In its efforts to secure payment of the outstanding moneys, SIPTU wrote to Ms Deirdre Shanley, principal officer in charge of employment schemes at the Department of Social Protection, on 29 April and 28 June of last year. There followed a meeting between Ms Shanley, representing the Department and-----