Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 121: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when a notice of redundancy in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Wexford which was first submitted in June 2009 and a further notice sent by registered post on 15 September 2009 was received in her Department; the reason this person has not received payment of their entitlement under the redundancy payments Acts; if payment will be awarded without further delay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41430/09]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. There are two types of payment made from the SIF – rebates to those employers who have paid statutory redundancy to eligible employees, and statutory lump sums to employees whose employers are insolvent and/or in receivership/liquidation. I can confirm that my Department received a statutory lump sum application for the individual concerned on 16 September, 2009, claiming inability to pay on behalf of the employer. I understand that an earlier application submitted in June 2009 was incomplete and was returned for completion.

In this case, as in all cases where the employer claims inability to pay the employee(s) statutory redundancy, the Department requires the employer to provide sufficient proof to substantiate the claim. This includes providing the latest set of audited accounts for the company as well as certification from the company's Accountant or Solicitor attesting to the fact that the employer has insufficient assets to pay the redundancy entitlements. Providing this documentation is submitted and is in order, the Department pays the employee(s) directly from the Social Insurance Fund. If the supporting information required from the employer is not provided to my Department, the employee is advised by the Department to take a case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal against the employer to seek a determination establishing the employee's right and entitlement to redundancy. Once such a determination is available, this allows the Department to make payment to the employee(s) concerned.

In this case, information has been requested from the employee to establish whether the employer has paid the statutory payment, and my understanding is that she has not received her statutory redundancy payment from her former employer. In view of this, the individual has been advised by my Department to take a case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal in order to establish her right to redundancy entitlement. Recent communication between my Department and the individual concerned has taken place again very recently informing her of the steps necessary in order to establish her claim for redundancy payment. In relation to lump sum claims such as in the current case, my Department 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 ten months of 2009 at 67,346. This figure exceeds the claims lodged for the full year 2008 (40,607) and 2008 was, of itself, an exceptional year as compared with earlier years when claims received were of the order of 25,000. Efforts continue to be made by my Department 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 ongoing review of trends and demands. The current number of staff serving in the Redundancy Payments Section in terms of full time equivalents is 51.5 although the Section is currently carrying two vacant positions which are due to be filled

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 cooperation of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). 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

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 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 should current measures prove to be inadequate.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 122: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her Department has received a redundancy notice in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Wexford; if this person has an entitlement under the Redundancy Acts; if so, when their entitlement will be awarded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41439/09]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. There are two types of payment made from the SIF – rebates to those employers who have paid statutory redundancy to eligible employees, and statutory lump sums to employees whose employers are insolvent and/or in receivership/liquidation. I can confirm that my Department received a statutory lump sum application for the individual concerned on 14 September, 2009, claiming inability to pay on behalf of the employer. This application is awaiting processing and therefore no decision as to the entitlement of the individual to redundancy has yet been made.

In this case, as in all cases where the employer claims inability to pay the employee(s) statutory redundancy, the Department requires the employer to provide sufficient proof to substantiate the claim. This includes providing the latest set of audited accounts for the company as well as certification from the company's Accountant or Solicitor attesting to the fact that the employer has insufficient assets to pay the redundancy entitlements. Providing this documentation is submitted and is in order, the Department pays the employee(s) directly from the Social Insurance Fund. If the supporting information required from the employer is not provided to my Department, the employee is advised by the Department to take a case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal against the employer to seek a determination establishing the employee's right and entitlement to redundancy. Once such a determination is available, this allows the Department to make payment to the employee(s) concerned.

In relation to lump sum claims, my Department 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 ten months of 2009 at 67,346. This figure exceeds the claims lodged for the full year 2008 (40,607) and 2008 was, of itself, an exceptional year as compared with earlier years when claims received were of the order of 25,000.

Efforts continue to be made by my Department 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 ongoing review of trends and demands. The current number of staff serving in the Redundancy Payments Section in terms of full time equivalents is 51.5 although the Section is currently carrying two vacant positions which are due to be filled

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 cooperation of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). 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

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 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 should current measures prove to be inadequate.