Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the number of redundancies notified to his Department in respect of each year from 2002 to 2009 and to date in 2010; the number of projected redundancies for 2010; the money paid out in statutory redundancy payment in respect of each year from 2002 to 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24349/10]

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the number of claims for redundancy payments waiting to be processed at the latest date for which figures are available; the average time taken to process a claim; the steps that are being taken to speed up this process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24350/10]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 60 and 78 together.

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.

Table 1 below sets out the number of redundancy claims received in the years 2002 to 2009 and provisional figures up to end May 2010. These figures reflect the number of employees who actually qualified for statutory redundancy lump sum payments. They do not reflect those who lost their jobs with less than two years service in employment. It is not possible to project the number of redundancies which will arise in 2010 as this will depend on a number of factors, including economic factors and the rate of recovery in the economy. However, the figures available for the first five months of 2010 suggest that the pattern, at an average weekly intake of 1,400 new claims is down on the weekly average of 1,500 claims experienced in 2009.

Table 2 sets out the monies paid out of the Social Insurance Fund in respect of redundancy claims for the years 2002 - 2009 and provisional figures up to end May 2010. It is not possible to project the amount which will be paid out in 2010 as this will hinge on a number of variables including the number of claims received, the length of service of the claimants etc.

Figures available to the end of May 2010 indicate that the number of redundancy claims on hand and awaiting processing stands at 34,881.

The Redundancy Payments Section of my Department is currently processing rebate claims submitted from November so that the waiting time is approximately 7 months. 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 also from October 2009.

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, 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%. New claims in the first five months of 2010 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. This reduction in incoming claims is welcome. Inroads are being made into the backlog of claims which has reduced 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 of redundancy and insolvency payments is due to be transferred to the Department of Social Protection. The intention is to transfer by Government order, the payment functions arising under the Redundancy Payment and Insolvency Payment schemes. 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.

Table 1: Actual Statutory Redundancies for years 2002 to 2009 and up to end May, 2010.

Table 2: Expenditure on Statutory Redundancies for years 2002 to 2009 and up to end May, 2010

(€000)