David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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Today I took a short walk from these buildings to Dawson Street. I called into the Game shop to offer support and solidarity to the workers in the shop who are currently engaged in a sit-in. As the Minister of State is aware, that is the case in many centres throughout this State and in the UK as well.

I raise this Adjournment motion because of the gaps that exist in legislation on the protection of workers who find themselves in such a situation. We can look at examples such as Waterford Crystal, TalkTalk, Vita Cortex, La Senza and now Game. While the issues are not all the same; the trend is the same in terms of a lack of employment rights in certain areas.

The best thing I can do is read into the record a copy of the statement I was given by the workers, which eloquently outlines their plight and circumstances. It reads:

As of 26 March Game has told all employees in the Republic of Ireland that they are being made redundant. The company has appointed administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK to look after the stores that are being closed there but they have failed to appoint a receiver to the business in the Republic of Ireland. We have only been told to make a claim to the State for our statutory redundancy entitlements, a process which we have not been offered any support with, and which we understand will take more than a year to complete while Game and PricewaterhouseCoopers walk away from any responsibility or liability in the Republic of Ireland, even while they have asked us to remove all company assets back to the UK, which we believe puts them out of reach of any Irish creditors. We believe Game and PricewaterhouseCoopers are making us a burden on the Irish State and Irish taxpayer while avoiding their responsibilities. Employees have not been given any of the paperwork or information required to claim redundancy from the State. We were instead given information about UK redundancy procedures. We were informed that we would not be paid redundancy or any statutory or contractual notice periods or any outstanding annual leave. Game and PricewaterhouseCoopers are still trading as a going concern in the UK and we feel that they should pay us the wages and entitlements we are due, including statutory notice and redundancy payments rather than forcing us to spend a year our families do not have claiming our entitlements from the Irish State and taxpayers. Game and PricewaterhouseCoopers can expedite these payments and allow staff to pay their mortgages and feed their families without having to wait as much as 16 months for their just entitlements. We, the employees of Game Ireland, believe the way we are being treated is wholly unfair and unjust. We are now sitting in our stores as a form of protest until Game and PricewaterhouseCoopers address our concerns.

That takes us back to the first sit-in which got prominence, which involved the Waterford Crystal workers. Then we saw what happened with La Senza, Vita Cortex and now with Game. A Labour Party motion was tabled in this House which called for an increase in the notice period an employer would have to give workers from 30 days to 60 days. That is something we must seriously consider. There are also provisions in the industrial relations Bill which exclude companies that are in receivership from having to give such notice. However, an anomaly arises in cases such as this where a company may not be solvent in this country but is operating in the UK or elsewhere. It should be liable while it is still generating profits and making money but not paying workers just entitlements. Legislative gaps exist and they must be filled. We cannot continue to have such sit-ins and protest where workers are simply demanding basic entitlements. It is high time the Government acted on what is happening in these areas and put in place legislation to enhance employment rights in this country.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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I thank Senator Cullinane for raising this issue. I am responding to the Adjournment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton.

The primary purpose of the redundancy payments scheme is to compensate workers, under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2011, for the loss of their jobs by reason of redundancy. Compensation is based on the worker's length of reckonable service and reckonable weekly remuneration, subject to a ceiling of €600 per week.

It is the responsibility of the employer to pay statutory redundancy to all their eligible employees. An employer who pays statutory redundancy payments to their employees is then entitled to a rebate from the State. Rebates to employers and lump sums paid directly to employees are paid from the social insurance fund, SIF.

The insolvency payments scheme operates under the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Act 1984, and is designed to protect certain outstanding pay related entitlements due to employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer. Such entitlements include wages, holiday pay, sick pay, and payment in lieu of minimum notice due under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2001.

The Minister for Social Protection has no plans to change this legislation. The Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2001 provide that, if an employee has been in continuous service with the same employer for at least 13 weeks, the employee is entitled to a minimum period of notice if the employer terminates the contract of employment. The Acts, which are under the aegis of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, do not prevent an employee from accepting payment in lieu of notice. The period of notice varies according to the length of service as follows: 13 weeks to two years service - one week's notice; two years to five years service - two weeks' notice; five years to ten years service - four weeks' notice; ten years to 15 years service - six weeks' notice; more than 15 years - eight weeks' notice.

Under redundancy payments legislation, an eligible employee must receive at least two weeks' notice. This two-week notice period can overlap with the minimum notice period provided for under the minimum notice legislation. The minimum notice legislation provides a means of redress for an employee who believes he or she has not received his or her entitlements, whereby the employee can make a claim for compensation to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. I am informed by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, that he has no plans to amend the existing minimum notice legislation. I thank Senator Cullinane for raising the matter.

David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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The Minister's statement indicates that the Minister for Social Protection has no plans to change the legislation on redundancies and also that the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has no plans to amend the existing minimum notice legislation. My simple question is what the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, has to say to the workers who are engaged in a sit-in in Game.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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I did not realise Senator Cullinane was raising a particular case. If he had given notice of that we may have been in a position to respond more adequately to it. If he is in a position to give me details of the case he raises I am happy to raise it with the Minister for Social Protection whom I expect will revert to the Senator on the matter.