Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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959. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of redundancy payments post Covid-19 in which the businesses' turnover has been substantially impacted and they are not in a financial position to pay yet continue to trade. [10482/20]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Entitlement to a redundancy payment is set out under the Redundancy Payments Act.  It is  the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy payments to eligible employees. 

 In situations where an employer is unable to pay these entitlements due to financial difficulties or insolvency an application for payment under the Redundancy Payments Scheme may be submitted to the Department.  The Department will make the statutory redundancy payment to eligible employees on behalf of the employer.

 The Redundancy Payments Scheme is funded from the Social Insurance Fund. When such a redundancy payment is made from the fund, a debt is raised against the employer. The Department will engage with employers to establish their financial situation on a case by case basis and will seek to recover the debt on a mutually agreed basis, including repayments by instalment, where appropriate. This ensures that the scheme takes into account both an employer's ability to pay redundancy payments and that the Social Insurance Fund can be reimbursed in due course.