Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 97: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the length of time it is taking for employers to obtain their rebate of payment of statutory redundancy; the maximum waiting time for payment; the number of staff allocated to that task; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21364/10]

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.

The Redundancy Payments Section of my Department is currently processing rebate applications from employers submitted by post from October 2009 and those filed on-line from November 2009, so that the waiting time is approximately 6 to 7 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, the Section is, in general, processing claims dating from September/October 2009. In some instances where the necessary supporting documentation for claims is not provided to my Department, or where queries arise, processing of claims can be further delayed until the required documentation is provided and/or outstanding queries are resolved.

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 in the Department in 2009 to alleviate the pressures on the Payments area include:

· Almost doubling the number of staff working solely on redundancy payment claims through reassignment to a current level of 52 full time equivalents;

· Prioritisation of the Department's overtime budget towards staff in the Section to tackle the backlog outside normal hours;

· Establishment of a special call handling facility in NERA to deal with the huge volume of telephone calls from people and businesses concerned about their payments;

· 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 existing outstanding tax liabilities which those employers owe to the Revenue Commissioners.

The backlog and waiting times remain at unacceptable levels. However, improvements are evident. I should point out that my Department has, in 2009, processed 50,664 claims, up 70% on 2008, and made corresponding payments totalling €336m, which results in average weekly payments to the value of €6.5m being issued. In the period 2007 – 2009, the level of new claims lodged with my Department has increased cumulatively by 200%. This contrasts with the previous two-year period 2005 – 2007 in which period the increase in new claims lodged was just 10%. During the period 1 January 2010 to 30 April, 2010, 23,593 claims were received and 27,592 were processed to the value of €159m which is a weekly average of €9.4m.

Responsibility for the payment functions arising under the Redundancy and Insolvency payment schemes is due to be transferred to the Department of Social Protection with effect from 1 January 2011. In transferring the functions between Departments, it is the intention that this will operate seamlessly and without any adverse impact on the service levels being experienced by individuals or the business community awaiting payment of redundancy claims.