Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation when payment of a specific payment will issue in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork. [22995/10]

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.

I can confirm that my Department received a lump sum claim for the individual concerned on 7 September 2009.

In instances such as this, where the employer does not formally wind the company up but goes into informal insolvency and is unable to pay the statutory redundancy entitlements, the Department seeks from the employer evidence of inability to pay the entitlements to the employees. This involves requesting confirmation from the company's Accountant or Solicitor attesting to the employer's inability to pay the statutory redundancy entitlements and, requesting the latest set of financial accounts/statement of affairs for the company. The employer is also asked to admit liability for the 40% liability attaching to the company arising from the redundancy payments. If this documentation is provided to the Department, the employees are paid their redundancy entitlement from the Social Insurance Fund. Upon payment, the Department pursues the company for the 40% share that the company would ordinarily have been expected to pay to the employees. In the present instance, some but not all of the necessary documentation has been provided and my Department is in contact with the employer's accountant in relation to an outstanding issue. If this is resolved to satisfaction, it should be possible to process the claim for payment shortly thereafter.

If the necessary supporting documentation required from the employer is not provided to my Department, the employee will be advised by my Department to take a case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) against the employer to seek a determination establishing the employee's right and entitlement to redundancy. Once such a determination is available, the Department is then in a position to make the payment to the employee concerned. Should the outstanding documentation be provided by the employer during the period while the case is pending a hearing before the EAT, this would allow the claim to be processed by my Department in the usual way.