Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 427: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the total amount paid out of the social insurance fund in 2011; the number of persons made redundant; the number of companies involved; the number of companies successfully and unsuccessfully claiming inability to pay; the circumstances where enhanced payments are made and the number of instances where this happened; the average time taken from claim to payment; the number of claims outstanding at present; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1413/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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My Department is currently compiling information in relation to redundancies in 2011 and payments from the social insurance fund in this regard. The provisional figure for claims in 2011 is 49,766 but this has yet to be finalised. The provisional total paid out in redundancy payments for 2011 is €312.7 million.

The Department does not maintain statistics in relation to the number of companies with regard to their inability to pay. However, as redundancy lump sums are paid by my Department where companies refuse to pay or are unable to pay, an indicator which may be useful to the Deputy in this regard is the level of lump sums in comparison to rebate payments, as shown in the table below:

The redundancy payments scheme deals exclusively with statutory redundancy entitlements and enhanced payments are a matter between employers and employees.

Straightforward redundancy claims submitted online through a new processing system, since October 2011 are generally processed within 6 to 8 weeks, but this can vary considerably depending on the complexity of the claims. Claims submitted before October 2011 or submitted manually take longer to process. In relation to such claims, the Department is currently processing claims from May 2011.

There are over 30,000 claims outstanding at present.