Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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291. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if Irish employment legislation under the transfers of undertakings Directive 2001/23/EC, that protects the contracts of employment of persons working in businesses that are transferred between owners, has been complied with following the liquidation of a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25873/15]

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Based on the information available to me, it would appear that the employer of the workers concerned did not change as a result of the transactions at issue and the contracts of those workers remained in place. Redundancy pay and the other statutory entitlements of staff are being calculated by reference to the continuous nature of their employment by the same legal entity that is now the subject of liquidation proceedings.

Regulation 6 of the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 (SI No. 131 of 2003) provides that the contractual rights of employees do not transfer where the original employer is subject to proceedings whereby the original employer may be adjudicated bankrupt, or wound up for reasons of insolvency, by order of the High Court.

I anticipate completing a report shortly as requested by the Taoiseach, to further inform Government on progress to date in supporting the workers, setting out the sequence of events as I understand them, and on a number of issues arising from the closure of Clerys. It will be a matter for Government to consider developments to date in what is an evolving situation, certain aspects of which are currently under the jurisdiction of the High Court.