Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 115: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will amend the relevant rules covering the insolvency payment scheme to allow payments to be made to qualifying employees if a company ceases trading but does not enter formal insolvency proceedings, in the same manner that payments under the redundancy scheme have been made in the same circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10019/09]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Since the Insolvency Payments Scheme came into operation under the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) Act, 1984 the matter of covering cases involving companies that have ceased to trade has been examined in depth. Extension of the Scheme to cover such cases would involve many complex issues and processes extending into questions of insolvency, company and bankruptcy law, resulting in administrative and financial constraints. Any extension of the definition of an employer's insolvency could not be implemented solely for the purposes of payments due to employees under the 1984 Act. An employer could not be deemed to be insolvent for one limited purpose only without reference to wider implications.

Because of the inherent complications involved — including legal, financial and administrative constraints, I am not in a position to introduce amending legislation.