I propose to take Questions Nos. 338, 407 and 419 together.
Responsibility for the processing of claims under the Redundancy Payments Scheme transferred from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to the Department of Social Protection in January 2011.
The purpose of the Redundancy Payments Scheme is to compensate workers, under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007, for the loss of their jobs by reason of redundancy.
Under the Redundancy Payments Acts an eligible employee is entitled to two weeks statutory redundancy payment for every year of service, plus a bonus week. Compensation is based on the worker's length of reckonable service and reckonable weekly remuneration, subject to a ceiling of €600 per week. Employees must have at least two years' service to be eligible for a redundancy payment. Rebates to employers and lump sums paid directly to employees are paid from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF).
It is the responsibility of the employer to pay statutory redundancy to all eligible employees. An employer who pays statutory redundancy payments to employees is then entitled to a rebate from the State of a percentage of the relevant amount.
Where an employer can prove to the satisfaction of the Department that he/she is unable to pay the statutory redundancy to his/her employees the Department will make lump sum payments directly to the employees and will seek to recover the debt from the employer. To prove inability to pay the employer must submit documentary evidence to confirm that this is the position.
Where the lump sum is paid to the employees the Department will seek to recover the relevant amount from the company. Where the employer has proven to my satisfaction that it was unable to pay the statutory redundancy the we will seek to recover the amount paid less the amount of the rebate that would have been payable to the employer if the employer had paid the statutory redundancy payment to the employees. Where it appears that the refusal or failure of the employer to pay the statutory redundancy was without reasonable excuse, we may either withhold any rebate to which the employer would otherwise have been entitled or reduce the amount of that rebate to such extent as is considered appropriate and in either such case the amount of the claim against the employer may be increased accordingly.
An official from my Department contacted the company concerned to establish the position in relation to redundancy claims and to ensure that the workers of the company are in a position to access any redundancy payments to which they may be entitled.
The company submitted 34 applications on-line on 22 December 2011 and hard copies/associated papers were received on 4 January 2012.
Straightforward redundancy claims submitted since October 2011 are generally processed for payment within six to eight weeks but this can vary considerably depending on the complexity of the claims.
In relation to NAMA, this body has been established as a fully commercial agency to operate under the direction of a Board of Directors. As long as NAMA operates in accordance with statute, it would be inappropriate for me or my officials to attempt to interfere with the commercial decisions taken by the Board.