Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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108. To ask the Minister for Social Protection in cases where workers lost their job due to a business closure and have been awarded a claim for unpaid wages, holiday pay and payment in lieu of notice, the mechanism that exists to allow them to claim from the social insurance fund where there is no receiver or liquidator appointed to the now closed business. [39809/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The purpose of the insolvency payments scheme, which operates under the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Act, 1984, which, in turn, derives from EU Council Directive 987/80, is to protect certain outstanding pay-related entitlements due to employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer. These entitlements include wages, holiday pay, sick pay, payment in lieu of minimum notice due under the Minimum Notice & Terms of Employment Acts, 1973-2001, and certain pension contributions. Various other statutory awards made by the Employment Appeals Tribunal, Rights Commissioners, etc., are also covered by the scheme. Where a person’s former employer was a limited company, the company must be in liquidation or receivership in order for the person to be eligible to claim under the insolvency payments scheme. In such circumstances, the liquidator or receiver becomes the relevant officer for submitting claims as he or she has access to the company records and can certify that the amounts claimed are in order. I am aware that there are cases where companies have ceased trading without engaging in a formal winding-up process and that in some such cases those employers may owe monies to their employees. Such employees are not eligible for payments under the insolvency payments scheme. I have asked my Department to review the position to establish what, if anything can be done to progress payments to individuals in these situations.

My Department is consulting with a range of interested parties in this review including the ODCE, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Revenue Commissioners. The Department has received submissions from ICTU on the issue. In its review the Department will also have to have regard to legal issues arising in the general area of insolvency law and the potential impacts that any proposed policy development will have in that area of law. To date my officials have had one meeting with the various parties mentioned above in connection with this issue.

I am not in a position to indicate when this review will be completed.