Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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650. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to extend the provisions in section 29 of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22685/20]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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789. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to reinstate the right of employees to invoke redundancy after a protracted period of lay-off as was the case prior to the Covid-19 emergency legislation with regard to section 29 of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020, in view of the fact failure to do so leaves many workers in temporary lay-off trapped and unable to move to other employment for fear of losing their redundancy entitlements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22686/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 650 and 789 together.

Firstly, I would like to say that my thoughts are with all workers who have been temporarily laid off or who are faced with job losses at this difficult time. I want to assure the Deputy that the purpose of the emergency measure, which relates to redundancy entitlements following temporary periods of lay-off and short-time work due to Covid-19, is to ensure that employees have a continued link to their job, have a pathway to return to their employment and also to mitigate the serious risks to businesses and jobs.

The existing provisions of Section 12 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 (as amended) were not considered adequate to deal with the current Covid-19 emergency situation. As a result of Covid-19, there have been immediate and unprecedented volumes of temporary lay-offs and short-time work. Under the existing timelines set out in Section 12 of the Act, this could have resulted in a large number of redundancies over a very short period of time. Employers are obliged to pay redundancy entitlements to employees who have been temporarily laid off after the periods of time currently provided for in Section 12. This would have serious unintended and detrimental financial impacts on businesses and employees and would have an adverse impact on the potential for a business to recover which could result in insolvency situations. This would only exacerbate the risk of further permanent job losses.

For these reasons emergency legislation was enacted which temporarily suspended the provisions of section 12 for the emergency period. The suspension was considered vital to ensure the future viability of businesses which in turn will help prevent further permanent job losses. In light of the on-going emergency situation the end date of the emergency measure was extended to 17th September so that businesses can continue to recover and plan their future staffing requirements.

It is important to note that an employee’s right to claim redundancy after a temporary period of lay-off or short-time has not been removed; rather, it has been deferred for a temporary period in this unprecedented emergency situation.

The matter of a further extension beyond 17th September is currently under consideration. In its deliberations the Government will have regard to the public health and labour market situations.