Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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16. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will intervene in a dispute (details supplied) where staff and former workers have been left without wages and have been forced to occupy the premises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23799/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I share the Deputy’s concern in relation to employees’ rights to receive their wages and the apparent failure of their employer to pay their wages for a number of weeks before the closure of the premises in question.

Officials from the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) have met with representatives of the employees to inform them about their entitlements and means of redress. They also provided NERA’s contact details should the employees need further information about these matters. NERA officials have also met with a representative of the employer and provided information on the employer’s obligations and the rights of the employees.

Irish employment rights legislation provides a comprehensive range of protections for employees. In this particular case, there may be several possible avenues of redress for the employees to consider, including, for example, making a complaint to a Rights Commissioner under the Payment of Wages Act for unpaid wages and bringing a claim to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) where the employer fails to comply with redundancy payment/minimum notice obligations.

The administration of the Redundancy Payments legislation is within the remit of my colleague the Minister for Social Protection, who has advised that it is the responsibility of the employer to pay statutory redundancy to all eligible employees. Where an employer can prove to the satisfaction of the Department of Social Protection that he/she is unable to pay statutory redundancy to his/her eligible employees that Department will make lump sum payments directly to those employees. Such payments are made from the Social Insurance Fund and result in a debt being raised against the employer which the Department of Social Protection will seek to recover.

Where an employer is legally insolvent (liquidation, receivership, bankruptcy etc.) and, as a result, defaults on payment of wages and other entitlements, an employee may also be entitled to seek redress from the State under the Insolvency Payments Scheme. These payments also cover overtime, holiday pay, sick pay etc. In these circumstances, redundancy payment entitlements may also be made from the Social Insurance Fund.

I have been informed by the Minister for Social Protection that she has received no applications for redundancy payments or insolvency payments in respect of the employees of this company.

A company may be put into liquidation by its members. An alternative is that the company’s creditors may apply to the Courts to have the company put into liquidation. Employees owed wages or other payments count as creditors and would be entitled to have the company put into liquidation.

There have been a number of instances where employers have ceased trading but have not gone through a formal wind-up process even though it would appear that the business is insolvent (so called “informal” insolvencies). At present the former employees of such employers are not covered by the insolvency payments scheme as their former employers do not satisfy the definition of insolvency for the purpose of the scheme. The position with regard to these situations is currently under review by the Department of Social Protection.

Finally, I would remind the parties involved in the current situation that all of the relevant agencies and bodies under the remit of my Department remain available, should this be of assistance.