Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 102: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation when redundancy payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25225/10]

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 4 May, 2010. This claim awaits processing. In respect of redundancy lump sum payments paid directly to employees, such as in this instance, the Section is, in general, processing claims dating from October 2009.

In relation to Redundancy claims, the scale of the challenge is evident from the statistics that show incoming redundancy claims in 2009 amounted to 77,001 which represents a threefold increase over the level of claims lodged in 2007 and earlier years. In 2007, 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 in the Department in 2009 to alleviate the pressures on the Payments area include:

· almost doubling the number of staff 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. In the period 1 January 2010 to 31 May 2010 new claims amounted to 28,587 - a fall off of almost 20% on the corresponding 5 month period in 2009 when 35,559 new claims were lodged. The reduction in incoming claims is most welcome. Inroads are being made in the backlog of claims reducing from 42,591 in December 2009 to a current level of 34,881 at end May 2010. In the first five months 34,036 claims were processed, up 130% on the same period last year.

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.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation if he will support the case of a person (details supplied). [25240/10]

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 wish to advise the Deputy that on the basis of valid claims entered in the Redundancy Payments System in my Department, there is no record of a redundancy claim having been received in respect of the individual in question. Application should be submitted to my Department on an RP50 form completed and signed as appropriate by the employer and the employee. This form can be completed online or downloaded from the Department's website at www.entemp.ie. In the case of forms submitted online, it is necessary also to submit a signed hardcopy of the form. Claims are not imported onto the Redundancy Payments System until a signed copy is received.

It is also my Department's practice not to enter incomplete claims on the system as these claims cannot be processed until the necessary documentation is submitted. Forms are returned to allow missing details and/or supporting documentation to be submitted. The documentation required in support of lump sum claims is set out on my Department's website at www.entemp.ie. Submission of correctly completed Redundancy claim forms (RP50s) with all of the required documentation greatly facilitates the processing of claims.

The documentation required in support of lump sum claims is evidence of the employer's inability to pay the redundancy entitlements to the employees. This involves requesting a statement from the company's Accountant or Solicitor attesting to the inadequacy of assets to make the redundancy payments and the latest set of financial accounts 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 information 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.

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.