Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 249: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will intervene to assist former employees of a company (details supplied); if to date any redundancy or other payments have been paid to employees; and if not, the steps his Department is taking to assist former employees. [5498/08]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Statutory Redundancy Payments Scheme is operated by my Department strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967-2007. There is no record in my Department of any statutory redundancy claims or payments having been made to date on behalf of the employees of the company mentioned.

The Insolvency Payments Scheme, operated under the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Act, 1984, and administered by my Department, provides for the payment of certain wage-related entitlements where an employee's employment is terminated as a result of the employer's insolvency. These entitlements include arrears of wages, sick pay, holiday pay, minimum notice, etc. However, claims under the Scheme can only be processed if a company is formally insolvent within the definition of the Act and a relevant officer normally a receiver or liquidator has been appointed and certifies the claims. To date, my Department has not received any claims under the Scheme.

Where a company has ceased trading but is still solvent and has not paid an employee in full, the employee may refer a complaint against that company to a Rights Commissioner. In accordance with the Payment of Wages Act 1991 non-payment of wages properly payable by an employer to an employee on any occasion will be regarded as an unlawful deduction from wages unless the deficiency or non-payment is attributable to an error of computation. A complaint to the Rights Commissioner Service may be made by giving them notice of it in writing on the appropriate form. The form is available from the Rights Commissioner Service or from Information Services in the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). Such a complaint must be made within a period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates. If the Rights Commissioner is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances s/he may decide to extend the period for up to a further 6 months.