asked the Minister for Labour the reason his Department have not implemented the appropriate provisions of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977, on behalf of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin who received an award of £1,402 on 25 February 1982; the reason his Department had declined to secure a decree against the firm concerned on behalf of the claimant for the amount due to him; if he is aware that failure to take court proceedings in this case has encouraged other firms to adopt a similar attitude; and the amount of compensation now due but which has yet to be paid to the claimant.

: The Chief State Solicitor was instructed on 1 October 1982 to institute legal proceedings under the Act, and the case was listed for hearing in the Circuit Court on 24 February 1983.

The firm had already paid £324.99 to the person concerned in November 1982 and paid the balance of the award amounting to £1,077.01 to the Chief State Solicitor on 22 February 1983. As the full amount of the award has been paid, the hearing in the Circuit Court was adjourned.

I am not aware that other firms have been encouraged not to pay awards made by the Employment Appeals Tribunal because court proceedings were not instituted immediately in this case. The position is that, in accordance with normal practice, my Department made efforts to persuade the firm concerned to pay without recourse to legal proceedings. Proceedings were instituted as soon as it became clear that satisfactory arrangements for payment could not be made through negotiations with the firm. The fact that full payment has now been secured will, I hope, indicate to other employers that they should pay awards voluntarily and without delay; otherwise, where necessary, legal proceedings will be instituted.

: Will the Minister not agree that to talk about negotiation with an employer after an award has been made would be inappropriate? Once an award has been made it would be reasonable to expect the employer to pay within a reasonable time, be it seven days or 14 days, and, consequently, a more active procedure would be necessary with a defaulting employer after an award has been made.

: I would have to agree with the Deputy that this practice should not have to be resorted to and I hope that employers pay on the awards. Unfortunately, that does not always happen. The normal practice in the Department is to endeavour in the first instance to persuade employers to pay the amount due, and this approach has proved successful. I agree that employers should pay but where this does not happen we have been successful in the Department in putting pressure on them. However, I say to the Deputy that, even though there may be the occasional case of this kind, it may not be necessary to take more strict measures.