Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 126: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will support a matter (detail supplied) in Dublin 9. [36583/09]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Redundancy Payments Section of my Department received statutory lump sum applications for the company concerned in July 2009. I understand that the claims are being processed. Subject to the necessary information being provided in support of the claims, I expect payment to issue to the claimants within the next two or three weeks. Currently, the average time it takes to process rebate applications from employers filed on-line is seven months while claims submitted by post are taking eight months. The Redundancy Payments Section of my Department is processing applications filed on-line from March 2009 and those submitted by post from February 2009.

In respect of lump sum payments paid directly to employees in instances where employers are unable to pay the statutory redundancy entitlements, the redundancy payments section is, in general, processing claims dating from June 2009. Given the unprecedented increase in redundancy payment claims lodged with my Department since late 2008, it has proved impossible to maintain the customer service targets that previously obtained. The scale of the challenge is evident from the statistics that show incoming redundancy claims with a cumulative figure for the first nine months of 2009 at 60,785 an increase of 122% on the same period last year (27,373). This figure of 60,785 exceeds the claims lodged for the full year 2008 (40,607). Indeed, 2008 itself was an exceptional year compared to earlier years, when claims received were of the order of 25,000.

Efforts continue to be made by the Tánaiste and I to deliver more acceptable turnaround processing times for redundancy payments given the difficulties that this gives rise to for both individual employees and the business community. Measures already taken include the reassignment of 26.7 additional staff (full-time equivalents) from other areas of the Department to the redundancy payments area since early 2009 with an ongoing review of trends and demands - the current number of staff serving in the redundancy payments section in terms of full-time equivalents is 53.8; the prioritisation of the Department's overtime budget towards staff in the redundancy payments section to tackle the backlog outside normal hours; the establishment of a special call handling facility to deal with the huge volume of telephone calls from people and businesses who are naturally concerned about their payments, using the facilities and co-operation of the National Employment Rights Authority - this centre has received an average of 12,500 calls per month this year with an estimated 60% relating to redundancy payments; the provision of better quality information relating to current processing times on the Department's website; and an engagement with the Revenue Commissioners to facilitate the offset of redundancy rebate payments by employers against outstanding tax liabilities with the Revenue Commissioners. The Tánaiste and I will continue to monitor closely the impact of these changes against the continuing influx of redundancy claims and will consider further measures to deal with the situation if current measures prove to be inadequate.