Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 295: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the likely cost of providing for the payment of three weeks' statutory redundancy payment for every year of service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11997/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The total cost to the social insurance fund of providing for statutory redundancy payments for the first three months of 2005 was €23,568,679.88. Of this, expenditure on employer rebates of 60% where the employers paid eligible employees their correct statutory redundancy lump sum entitlements amounted to €22,079,236.47. Expenditure arising from direct payments by my Department from the fund to employees who were not paid their statutory redundancy amounted to €1,489,443.41. On 1 January, 2005, the ceiling on weekly earnings to be taken into account in calculating statutory redundancy entitlements was increased from €507.90 to €600.

From these most recent figures, which are based on statutory redundancy payments of two weeks pay for every year of service, together with the usual bonus week, it can be estimated that the current total cost of redundancy payments for the full year will amount to €94,274,719.52, with €88,316,945.88 in respect of employer rebates and €5,957,773.64 in respect of direct payments to the employees.

The cost of statutory redundancy based on three weeks' pay per year of service can be further extrapolated from these figures. Thus, the total cost for the year would amount to €141,412,079.20, with €132,475,418.80 for employer rebates and €8,936,660.46 for direct payments to employees.