Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 680: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has received a report on the way in which a redundancy situation was handled by a company (details supplied) in Dublin 3 where workers were required to sign a waiver in respect of rights under labour law. [25447/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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By letter dated 27 June 2005, the company concerned notified the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, under section 12 of the Protection of Employment Act 1977, of a total of 132 collective redundancies which it proposed to make in the period between September and December 2005. Section 12 requires employers proposing collective redundancies to give the Minister at least 30 days written notice of such redundancies. The Act also provides that employee representatives must also be consulted. The company undertook in this letter to begin consultations with the employee representatives concerned on 5 July 2005.

The Minister subsequently received a report dated 2 September 2005 from a representative of the employees of the company expressing disquiet about a proposed requirement for redundant workers to sign a waiver form. This letter also expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed level of severance payments, three weeks payment per year of service. The company was alleged to have refused to enter negotiations which resulted in the Communications Workers Union referring the matter to the Labour Relations Commission, which referred the matter to the Labour Court. Upon receiving notice of the Labour Court hearing, the company expedited the redundancy programme to commence on 2 September 2005. The Labour Court held a preliminary hearing under the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001, at which the court recommended that the parties return to the LRC for further discussion.

Most employment rights legislation, including section 51 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, contains a voidance of certain provisions clause. This means, in essence, that any contract that attempts to exclude or limit the application of certain statutory employment rights is void. Moreover, a signed waiver that attempts to limit the employee's rights under current employment rights legislation is also void.

Responsibility for the resolution of industrial disputes is a matter for the parties involved. The State provides the industrial relations dispute settlement machinery to assist this process, which, in line with the general principles of industrial relations in Ireland, is voluntary in nature. The system of industrial relations in Ireland is designed to help and support parties in their efforts to resolve their differences, rather than imposing an extensive set of legislative conditions on parties to an industrial dispute. As the resolution of trade disputes is an operational matter for the State's dispute settling agencies, the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court, it is one in which I do not have a function.