Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 113: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will urgently review the penalties and sanctions that are currently in law for employers who refuse to engage with workers who they are making redundant in a manner that is possibly breaching their redundancy entitlements; his views that new legislation may be necessary to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33886/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Protection of Employment Act 1977 (as amended) sets down certain requirements that must be followed where an employer proposes to create collective redundancies and it contains penalties for five distinct breaches of the Act. These allow for fines of up to €5,000 for four of the five penalties, including where there has been a failure to initiate consultations or supply employees' representatives with all relevant information relating to the proposed redundancies, and for a fine of up to €250,000, where an employer has effected collective redundancies before the expiry of the 30-day consultation period. The fine of €250,000 which could be imposed on an employer for effecting collective redundancies before the expiry of the 30-day consultation period acts as a very significant deterrent and is appropriate, considering the seriousness of such an offence. The smaller fines of €5,000 are set at this level based on the more technical nature of such offences and to allow that such cases be dealt with summarily in the District Court.

In addition, paragraph (1) of Regulation 6 of the European Communities (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2000 provides that an employee, or a trade union, staff association or excepted body on behalf of an employee, may present a complaint to a rights commissioner that an employer has contravened section 9 or 10 of the Protection of Employment Act 1977. A decision of a rights commissioner may require the employer to pay to the employee compensation of up to 4 weeks remuneration. In the vast majority of collective redundancy situations, employers comply with the required information and consultation requirements and no dismissals take effect during the 30-day period required under the Protection of Employment Act 1977. In practice, the notice provided for proposed collective redundancies very often exceeds the minimum period required under the Protection of Employment Act 1977. In the circumstances, I have no plans to amend the Protection of Employment Act 1977.

For matters relating to redundancy legislation and to the processing of claims under the Redundancy Payments and Insolvency Payments Schemes, I note that such matters come within the remit of the Minister for Social Protection.