Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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17. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of redundancies in 2020 and to date in 2021; and the measures taken by the Government to prevent these redundancies. [52008/21]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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There is no single data set to quantify the number of redundancies in the State. Applications under the Redundancy Payments Scheme from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) represent only a proportion of actual redundancies because situations whereby redundancies are paid directly by the employer from their own resources with no recourse to the SIF are not required to be advised to any Department. In 2020 there were 4,157 redundancies paid from the SIF. Up to the end of September 2021 there were 1,738 redundancies paid from the SIF.

Similarly, the data on collective redundancy notifications sent to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, does not reflect the total number of actual redundancies that take place across the workforce. Collective redundancies arise when a certain number or percentage of total employees in a business are being made redundant. Redundancies outside these parameters are not required to be notified to the Department. Also, not all proposed redundancies result in actual redundancies as alternatives can be found during the required 30-day consultation period between employers and employees. In 2020, 12,514 potential redundancies were notified, and 6,907 potential redundancies have been notified up to the end of September 2021.

Section 12A of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 is the Covid-19 emergency provision enacted in March 2020 which temporarily suspended an employee’s right to claim redundancy from their employer, following certain periods of layoff and short-time work.

As the economy has started to gradually reopen, the emergency provision was considered no longer necessary and it expired on 30th September 2021. To coincide with this the reckonable service scheme was announced which ensures that employees made redundant do not lose out on reckonable service for periods of lay-off that were as a result of Government restrictions. It is expected that payments will become operational in the first half of 2022.

Government recognised the unique challenges posed by the Covid-19 crisis for small and micro companies. In response, we have provided for a dedicated rescue process for small and micro companies known as the Small Companies Administrative Rescue Process, or SCARP.

SCARP provides an alternative to examinership, for the benefit of small and micro companies, which is more cost efficient and capable of conclusion within a shorter period of time. It is hoped to commence the associated Act at the end of this month.

The wide range of other measures taken by government, such as the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme, the Small Business Assistance Scheme for COVID, the Business Resumption Support Scheme, and sector-specific measures such as business continuity grants and the lower VAT rate, have all been critical in keeping businesses afloat and preventing redundancies.

Finally, the National Economic Recovery Plan sets out the Government's approach to deliver a jobs-led recovery, helping the sectors and workers most impacted in recent times.