Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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108. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a company (details supplied) made him or his Department, aware that it was going to lock staff out of its Dublin office on 18 November 2022. [62046/22]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Officials in my Department and my office met with senior staff of Twitter in Ireland on Monday 7 November in relation to media reports that the company would seek to reduce its global headcount. There was no specific indication given as outlined in the Deputy's question.

My concern remains with those impacted staff, for whom I understand the statutory consultation process is underway, with final decisions yet to be reached. IDA will continue to keep in close contact with Twitter’s Irish management to offer support during this process.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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109. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has had discussions with the management in a company (details supplied) regarding recent reports of workers being invited to take unpaid leave; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62117/22]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Following the release of its third-quarter results in late October, Intel announced it would seek cost reductions in 2023 due to market decline. This included global restructuring and reducing operational expenditure. I understand Intel is engaging with staff in Ireland and offering voluntary unpaid leave options as part of this cost review process.

Last week I received a notification from Intel proposing a number of employees be made redundant on both a voluntary and involuntary basis. The statutory consultation process with staff is underway and final decisions yet to be reached. I am assured that the company is mindful of its legal obligations in this regard.

For the avoidance of doubt, there is no requirement under the Protection of Employment Act 1977 for employers to notify the Minister of offers of periods of voluntary unpaid leave to employees.

Section 12 of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 provides that employers proposing a collective redundancy must notify the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment of the proposed collective redundancy. This applied to involuntary redundancies. Collective redundancies arise where, during any period of 30 consecutive days, the employees being made redundant are:

- 5 employees where 21-49 are employed,

- 10 employees where 50-99 are employed,

- 10% of the employees where 100-299 are employed,

- 30 employees where 300 or more are employed.

I recently met with the CEO of Intel who confirmed that the company remains committed to Ireland. Intel is a significant economic contributor to Ireland and an important regional employer to Co. Kildare, with the majority of its 5,000 strong workforce employed at the Leixlip campus. Intel and Ireland have a great relationship since the company first came to Ireland in 1989, and the company has made significant investments in our country over the past 30 years. The company is eager to maintain its manufacturing talent which is a key function of its operations here now and into the future. Officials in my Department, through IDA Ireland, engage with the company on an ongoing basis both to seek to minimise the impact of any redundancies and to offer any supports during this period.