1013. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to respond to a person (details supplied); if will consider legislation that would enforce such considerations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56765/26]

Ireland has a robust suite of employment rights legislation in place to protect workers who may be impacted by redundancy.

The Protection of Employment Act 1977, as amended, places obligations on employers proposing collective redundancies, which arise when certain thresholds are met. Employers must carry out a 30-day information and consultation process with employees’ representatives and notify the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment at least 30 days before the first redundancies take effect.

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.

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.

Employees with more than one year’s service can also seek an adjudication from the WRC under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015, which lays down criteria by which dismissals are to be judged unfair. In general, dismissal of an employee due to redundancy is not deemed to be an unfair dismissal for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissals Act. In such cases, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the redundancy is genuine and the selection criteria and the redundancy process is substantively and procedurally fair.

In most cases, complaints to the WRC must be made within 6 months of the alleged breach. The WRC may extend this time period to 12 months if the employee can demonstrate reasonable cause. The WRC’s Customer Service and Information Unit can provide further information in relation to employment rights and obligations and can be contacted at www.workplacerelations.ie or by phone on 059-9178990 or Lo Call 0818 80 80 90.