Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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194. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the Duffy-Cahill report. [26515/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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It is important to note that the Plan of Action on Collective Redundancies following Insolvency represents Government policy in this area. The Cahill-Duffy report was in response to particular terms of reference which were quite narrow and specific and do not address the generality of redundancies that arise in insolvency situations.

Following extensive engagement with the social partners, the Plan of Action on Collective Redundancies following Insolvency was published in June 2021. The Plan was also informed by the Cahill-Duffy Report (April 2016) and the work of the Company Law Review Group (CLRG), which is a statutory body made up of representatives from a wide range of stakeholders and experts concerning the breadth of the Companies Act 2014.

The Plan of Action set out several commitments to safeguard further the rights of workers.

The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 was commenced on 1 July 2024. The 2024 Act implemented the Plan of Action.

The 2024 Act introduced a number of changes to collective redundancy rules, underpinned by the Protection of Employment Acts 1977-2024, and to company law, underpinned by the Companies Act 2014.

The 2024 Act also delivered on the Plan of Action's commitment to establish an Employment Law Review Group (ELRG) to act as an independent advisory expert group to help shape the formulation of policy and legislation in the area of employment rights. On 10 January 2025, Minister Burke announced the appointments of the Chair and members to the ELRG. The inaugural plenary of the ELRG was held on 4 March and the ELRG's work programme has been published on my Department's website.

In line with the Plan of Action's commitments, an Information Handbook was first published in December 2021 to help workers and their representatives navigate the existing legal framework. This Information Handbook was updated in August 2024 to reflect the changes made in the 2024 Act and now includes a plain language summary in eight languages.

The recommendations made in the Cahill Duffy report were examined and reviewed by my Department during the development of the Plan of Action and the 2024 Act. Two of the six recommendations contained in the report (Proposals 1 & 3) were accepted on a full or modified basis. These recommendations are reflected in sections 8 and 11 of the 2024 Act.