George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour)
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369. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment what contact he has had with a company (detail supplied) regarding that companies recent announcement of job losses; if the company informed him in advance of the redundancies; if he is of the opinion that these redundancies should be treated as a collective redundancy under the Protection of Employment Acts 1977-2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7806/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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IDA Ireland was made aware of the potential upcoming job losses at Meta on 14th January after a call with the company, where Meta informed IDA Ireland of a public announcement later that day by the Meta CEO impacting global jobs at the company. The company informed IDA Ireland that the method of identifying the roles of those at risk was to use an internal performance review process. My Department further understands that Meta could not comment on the impact this would have to the Irish operation of the company at the time but stated that affected roles would be backfilled in 2025.

Ireland has a robust suite of employment rights legislation to protect and support workers in redundancy situations. The Protection of Employment Act 1977 provides that 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.

The Protection of Employment Act 1977 imposes a number of legal obligations on employers proposing collective redundancies including (i) the requirement to consult and provide information to employees and their representatives for a 30-day period, before any notice of redundancy can issue, and (ii) that employers must notify the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment of the proposals at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect.

Employees have the right to refer complaints to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on a wide range of employment law breaches for an adjudication and redress, including the right to refer a complaint should an employer fail to consult or provide certain information to employees in collective redundancy situations.

I can confirm that my Department has not received a collective redundancy notification from Meta.