Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. In February last year workers at Rehab Enterprises in Limerick were informed by senior management that the company would make 36 workers redundant following a 30-day consultation period. Most of these workers were earning the minimum wage of €10.20 at the time, of which 75% was subsidised under the long-standing disability wage subsidy scheme. The workers concerned who subsequently lost their jobs as of 2 April 2021 are among the most vulnerable people in society. They include people with visual impairments, learning difficulties and Down's syndrome. They lost their jobs in the middle of a pandemic and some of these workers had given decades of service.

Regrettably, the Rehab Group management made a unilateral decision to depart from a well-established redundancy agreement with SIPTU. This decision was totally unacceptable and an affront to the principles of equality and fairness. Instead of offering four weeks' per year of service plus statutory uncapped as per the long-standing agreement with SIPTU, Rehab offered just two weeks' plus statutory capped at one year's salary.

To put that into simple terms, as one worker who had been with the company for 30 years said, he should be entitled to €60,000 redundancy but he was offered just over €21,000. The 49-year-old added:

It is an insult. We feel cheated like we are dirt. It is a slap in the face. We are astounded at what Rehab had the cheek to offer us. My heart has been torn out of me. It is so hard to take.

His family said they fear that he and his colleagues would struggle to find other suitable work and that their lives would be negatively impacted by the lack of routine.

SIPTU has since been engaged in a long-running battle with Rehab, via the Labour Court, to secure the redundancy package the workers are entitled to under that long-standing agreement with the company. In April last year, the Labour Court recommended that a financial review be carried out to assess the ability of Rehab Enterprises, and the parent company Rehab Group, to honour the existing redundancy agreement. That review established that the Rehab Group, which owns 100% of Rehab Enterprises, has as custom and practice contributed to previous redundancy packages and has the ability and means to pay the full redundancy terms in the collective agreement with SIPTU.

In an updated commentary this year, the same analyst referenced a significant improvement in the finances of the Rehab Group with a net current asset year-on-year improvement of circa€3 million, and cash or cash equivalents of €20.8 million, which is an improvement from €11.8 million the previous year. The same analyst also noted a significant sum was paid to a senior executive in 2020. While the sum was not fully disclosed by the company, the analyst also noted that packages of €813,000 were paid to senior management in 2018 and 2019. So it would appear that there is one rule for senior management when it comes to redundancy packages and quite a different rule for front-line workers.Last week SIPTU won a significant victory at the Labour Court after the third and final round of hearings. Quoting the financial analyst's clear determination that the Rehab Group has options to explore to meet this claim the court determined that it could find no clear and undisputed basis not to uphold the existing collective agreement and consequently recommended that it be respected.

The Rehab Group receives significant funding each year from the State. It has been demonstrated that it can afford to honour the redundancy agreement for these workers who are among the most vulnerable in the state. It has literally tens of millions of euro in available funds and has no problem splashing the cash for senior management. Will the Minister of State give a clear call on the management of Rehab to honour the existing redundancy agreement, as endorsed by the Labour Court?

It is interesting reading SIPTU’s submission to the Labour Court as it details the procrastination and delay that has been a constant feature of the Rehab Group’s response to this issue. It has dragged it out and these workers have been waiting for more than 18 months for the redundancy they should have received, so a clear message from the Minister of State would be very welcome and I look forward to his response.