Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 415: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on providing a lump sum, for example a redundancy lump sum, for people who have to cease work due to ill health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6420/06]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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As a general rule, a redundancy situation exists where an employer requires fewer employees to do work of a particular kind; a company goes into liquidation or receivership; it is decided to rationalise or reorganise a company; or where a company closes down. Other examples could include partial closing down of a company; a decrease in an employer's requirements for workers with particular skills or qualifications; or an employer requiring fewer employees due to an economic recession. Ill health alone is not a valid reason for redundancy.

Redundancy is related to the job, not the person concerned. If the employee's job is gone, then he is redundant unless he can be accommodated elsewhere in the place of employment.

Under the existing statutory redundancy legislation, an employee who is absent from work on grounds of ill health can be made redundant provided a genuine redundancy situation exists in the employment and the employer is willing to make him or her redundant, since it is the employer who decides, in the first instance, who should be made redundant. The redundancy would need to occur within four years of the date of termination of employment in order to fall within the insurability provisions of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2003.