Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Redundancy Payments Act 1967, as amended, provides for the making of payments by employers to employees in respect of redundancy. It is the employer’s responsibility to make statutory redundancy payments to all eligible employees.  In the event that an employer is unable to pay due to financial difficulties, an application for payment from the Social Insurance Fund may be submitted to the Department.

When such a redundancy payment is made from the Social Insurance Fund, a debt is immediately raised against the employer. The Department is obliged to make every effort to recover the debt owed to the Social Insurance Fund, in accordance with Section 32 and 43 of the Act. 

In all cases the Department will engage directly with the employer, their personal representative or the relevant officer to ascertain their current financial situation and capacity to repay the debt. Where appropriate, an agreed repayment plan can be put in place to minimise financial hardship; for example, the debt can be recovered by way of instalments over a period of time. 

The debt management policy is that each case is considered on its merits, with a view to achieving full debt recovery. In the case referred to, discussions are ongoing between my Department and a personal insolvency practitioner to establish the full facts. When all information has been received a decision will be made.