P J Sheehan (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 125: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when a person (details supplied) in County Cork will receive a decision on their redundancy claim from the social insurance fund; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42945/09]

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 November, 2009 in respect of the person concerned which is awaiting processing.

Currently, the average time it takes to process rebate applications from employers filed on-line is 7 months while claims submitted by post are taking 8 months. The Redundancy Payments Section of my Department is currently processing applications filed on-line from April 2009 and those submitted by post from March 2009. 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 for the first ten months of 2009 at 67,207. 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 126: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 121 of 17 November 2009, if her Department has made payments of statutory redundancy entitlements to former employees of the company since June 2009 on the basis of the employer's inability to pay; in the event that such payments have been made, the reason a former employee (details supplied) in County Wexford has received no redundancy payment but has been advised by her Department to take a case against their employer to the Employment Appeals Tribunal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43007/09]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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In my earlier reply to the Deputy in this case in parliamentary question No. 121 of 17 November, 2009 it was pointed out that in all cases where the employer claims inability to pay the redundancy entitlements of employees, the Department requires the submission of supporting documentation to substantiate this claim. In the absence of this, 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.

It is the case that at this point, a number of former employees of the company have been paid out their redundancy entitlements by my Department since June 2009 on the basis of determinations received from the Employment Appeals Tribunal. I understand that the individual, who is the subject of the Deputy's query, was advised by my Department to take a case to the EAT for a determination. However, this interaction with my Department crossed with the submission of the outstanding supporting documentation on behalf of the former employer. In this instance, there is no longer a need for the individual to pursue her case before the EAT and I confirm that payment of her claim will be made within the next one to two weeks.