Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 227: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if a person (details supplied) is entitled to a payment. [6394/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Under the Redundancy Payments Scheme all eligible employees are entitled to a statutory redundancy lump sum payment on being made redundant. An eligible employee is entitled to two weeks pay for every year of service, plus a bonus week, subject to a maximum ceiling on gross weekly pay of €600. Where an employer is unable or fails to pay the statutory redundancy entitlement to a former employee, a payment can be paid directly to the employee from the Social Insurance Fund.

The right of the employee to a redundancy payment must first be established either by a completed Redundancy Certificate (RP50) or, in the absence of that, a decision of the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) following an appeal from the employee.

The time limit for making a claim for a lump sum redundancy payment is 52 weeks after the date of termination of employment. Accordingly, there are 52 weeks in which;

- a redundancy payment can be agreed upon and paid or

- for an employee to give a written claim for a redundancy payment to his/her former employer or

- for the employee to lodge an appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal to adjudicate on the right of the employee to a redundancy payment.

While it should be noted that the period of 52 weeks for submitting a claim is the normal period that applies, the Employment Appeals Tribunal has discretion to extend the 52 week time-limit to 104 weeks provided that it receives the necessary claim within 104 weeks of the date of dismissal and is satisfied that the delay by the employee in making his/her claim arose due to reasonable cause.