700. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he will outline the steps his Department is taking to ensure that affected workers receive meaningful consultation, adequate representation, and full transparency during the redundancy process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42704/26]

701. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he has received reports of inadequate or inconsistent worker representation across teams involved in the redundancy process; the actions he intends to take to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all employees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42705/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 700 and 701 together.

My Department has received some correspondence in recent weeks concerning the adequacy of worker representation in redundancy processes. It is important to note, however, that there is a robust legislative framework in place which provides important safeguards for employees who may be impacted redundancy. This includes information and consultation requirements to ensure that all workers are treated in a fair and consistent manner, as well as recourse to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in the event that this process is not carried out in accordance with the law.

The Redundancy Payments Act 1967, as amended, requires employers to pay a statutory redundancy payment to eligible employees who are being made redundant and have more than 2 years’ service.

There are enhanced protections for workers impacted by collective redundancies and these rules are set out in the Protection of Employment Act 1977, as amended.

Under the 1977 Act, 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; and 30 employees where 300 or more are employed.

The 1977 Act imposes a number of obligations on an employer that proposes a collective redundancy.

Section 9 of the 1977 Act sets out the employer’s obligation to engage in an information and consultation process with employees’ representatives for at least a 30-day period before any notice of redundancy can issue. The Act specifies that the consultation with employees’ representatives should include the possibility of avoiding the proposed redundancies, reducing the number of employees effected or mitigating their consequences.

To ensure transparency during the collective redundancy process, section 10 of the Act obliges the employer to provide certain information relating to the proposed redundancies to the employees’ representatives during the consultation.

Under section 12 of the Act, employers must also notify the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment of the potential redundancies at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes place.

Under the 1977 Act, the employees’ representatives are defined as

(a) a trade union, staff association or excepted body with which it has been the practice of the employer to conduct collective bargaining negotiations, or

(b) in the absence of such a trade union, staff association or excepted body, employee(s) who are elected by a group of employees to act as their representative.

This approach reflects the fact that Ireland’s industrial relations system is based on a voluntarist model, which recognises employees have the right under the Constitution to form associations and trade unions and that employers also have the right not to recognise trade unions for collective bargaining purposes.

Where redundancies occur which are outside the parameters of collective redundancies, employers are still legally obliged to conduct the redundancy process fairly and to use reasonable selection criteria in choosing to make people redundant. In accordance with the principles of fair procedures and natural justice, any such process should normally include a consultation with potentially affected employees.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is the organisation which is mandated to secure compliance with employment rights legislation. Employees have the right to refer complaints to the WRC on a wide range of employment law breaches for an adjudication and compensation where appropriate. This includes the right to make a complaint where they believe their employer has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Protection of Employment Act 1977.