Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 125: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding an application for redundancy in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41484/09]

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 am advised that there is no record in my Department of a claim for redundancy payment in respect of the individual concerned. I note that the copy of a redundancy application provided as part of the documentation sent in by the Deputy is not signed by either the employer or employee. It may be the case that the claim was submitted to the Department in this way and, if so, it would have been returned for completion/signature. I understand that in this case the employer for whom the individual worked is in Receivership and in that instance, claims for redundancy would be submitted by the Receiver. In general, eligibility for statutory lump sum redundancy claims require that: · The employee must have at least two years continuous service (104 weeks). · The employee must be in employment which is insurable under the Social Welfare Acts. · The employee must be 16 years or older · The employee must have been made redundant as a result of a genuine redundancy situation.

Where there is a change in ownership of a business but the employee by arrangement continues to work for the new owner with no break in employment, the employee is not entitled to redundancy payment at the time of change of ownership but his continuity of employment is preserved for the purpose of redundancy by the new employer at any future date.

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 126: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when statutory redundancy will be awarded to a company (details supplied) in County Limerick to enable one former employee to receive their payment. [41536/09]

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 an application for a statutory redundancy lump sum payment on 5 August, 2009 in respect of the individual concerned which is awaiting processing.

The Redundancy Payments Section of my Department is currently processing rebate applications submitted by post from March 2009 and those filed online from April 2009 so that the waiting time is approximately 7 to 8 months depending on the manner of filing the application. In respect of lump sum payments paid directly to employees in instances where employers are unable to pay the statutory redundancy entitlements as in this case, the 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 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.