Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

153. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 56 of 16 November 2022, if he has been contacted or engaged by a company (details supplied) in respect of job losses at the company; if so, the nature of those discussions; and if he is satisfied that the company has complied with communication protocols in respect of redundancies; if the IDA have engaged with him in respect of clawback any supports provided to the companies. [13792/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Earlier this year, I travelled to the US West Coast for a series of high-level meetings with a range of existing IDA Ireland client companies, including the company referred to. This meeting involved high-level discussions on the technology sector and Ireland’s FDI value proposition.

My Department received a notification of proposed collective redundancies from the referenced company on 15 March 2023. The notification confirms that the company will shortly commence the collective redundancy consultation process required under the Act with the representatives of employees whose roles are at risk of redundancy.

Officials in my Department and IDA Ireland were in contact with the company’s officials on Wednesday 15 March and IDA officials are in continued contact with the company on proposed redundancies in Ireland. As the company has received no financial assistance from IDA Ireland, the issue of a clawback does not arise.

Section 12 of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 provides that an employer proposing collective redundancies must notify the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Information on collective redundancy notifications does not reflect the total number of actual redundancies that take place across the workforce. Collective redundancies arise where, during any period of 30 consecutive days, the number of employees proposed to be made redundant are at least:

- 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.

Other redundancies outside of these parameters are not required to be notified to the Minister. Also, not all proposed redundancies result in actual redundancies, as employers negotiate with their workforce to restructure the business and find alternative solutions during the 30-day consultation period.