Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 1731: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation if a person (details supplied) in County Galway is entitled to redundancy payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33444/10]

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 Protection. 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.

Under the Redundancy Payments Scheme all eligible employees are entitled to a statutory redundancy lump sum payment on being made redundant. An employee is entitled to two weeks pay for every year of service, plus a bonus week, subject to the prevailing maximum ceiling on gross weekly pay which is currently €600 . Eligibility for persons to qualify under the Scheme requires that:

The employee must have at least two years continuous service (104 weeks) in the employment of the employer;

The employee must be in employment that is insurable under the Social Welfare Acts. Full-time employees must be in employment which is insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts; this does not apply to part-time employees;.

The employee must be 16 years and upwards;

The employee must have been made redundant as a result of a genuine redundancy situation.

It is up to the employer concerned in the first instance to determine whether or not in fact a redundancy situation obtains and, if so, to notify my Department using an RP50 form which can be downloaded from the Department's website at www.entemp.ie

Disputes in relation to redundancy entitlements can be referred to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) for adjudication. The EAT is located at Davitt House, Adelaide Road, Dublin 2 and the website of the EAT is a useful resource and is located at www.eatribunal.ie.

In the normal course, application for redundancy 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.

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.