Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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206. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the payment options available to persons to pay fines, charges or bills by his Department; and if there are plans to provide further online payment facilities. [16290/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Details of the payment options available for persons to pay fines, charges or bills to my Department and the Offices under its aegis are as follows:

Workplace Relations Commission

The Workplace Relations Act 2015 provides for the charging and payment of a fixed payment notice (a fine) for four specified contraventions of employment law by a person / employer. 

A person who receives a Fixed Payment Notice may, within 42 days of the date of the Notice, make a payment to the Commission of the amount specified in the Notice. If the payment is made within the statutory 42 day period, no prosecution will be instituted against such person. Failure to make payment against a Fixed Payment Notice will cause a Prosecution to be instituted by the Commission in the Courts.

Payment may be made by Electronic Fund Transfer or by alternative means such as cheque or money order.

Employment Permits

Payments for Employment Permits may be made online by debit/visa card at . Over 99% of applications are paid for this way.  The Department also continues to provide a payment facility for manual paper-based applications via Electronic Funds Transfer.

Intellectual Property Office of Ireland (IPOI)

All fees relating to national Trademark and Design applications or fees for the grant or renewal of Patents may be made online via the IPOI website.  IPOL are in the process of developing a system to allow other statutory patent fees to be paid online. All payments can be also be made by debit/credit over the phone, or by Electronic Funds Transfer/Bank transfer.

Freedom of Information Requests

Persons may make a request for records under the Freedom of Information Act, 2014 to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. While there is no fee for an FOI request there is a fee if a person seeks an internal review of the initial decision. These charges can be paid by way of bank draft, money order, postal order or personal cheque. Payment can also be made by Electronic Fund Transfer.

Companies Registration Office

The Companies Registration Office (CRO) receives three types of payments from customers:

Filing fees

Online payment, either by credit card or by customer account, is mandatory for those forms where online filing is mandatory. For manual forms, customers can opt to pay by customer account or by cash/cheque.

Fines

The only fine that the CRO charge is the late filing penalty and that can only be paid online.

Search fees

For online searches, search fees are paid via customer account or credit card.  In addition, it is possible to write to the CRO requesting documents by enclosing cash or a cheque.

Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE)

The ODCE occasionally receives payments in respect of recovery of costs in legal cases. The ODCE accepts payments made by EFT or by cheque.

Occasional Trading Permits

Applicants for occasional trading permits are currently required to pay the fee by cheque. A review of occasional trading legislation is underway to determine its continued fitness for purpose and any decisions on the application process will be made following the conclusion of this review.

Labour Court

The Labour Court receive a fee of €300 in instances where the appellant did not attend the original WRC hearing. The fee is paid by EFT to the Departments account.  In the development of its new Case Management System, the Labour Court will consider other online payment facilities for this account.