Redundancy Payments Act , 1971

1. Definition.

1.—In this Act “the Principal Act” means the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967.

2. Extension of application of certain provisions of Acts.

2.—In relation to an employee whose employment is terminated by reason of redundancy on or after the commencement of this Act, any provision of the Principal Act or this Act which affects or relates to the preservation of continuity of the employee's employment shall apply to periods of employment before the 1st day of January, 1968, as they apply to such periods after that date.

3. Provisions relating to persons who attain age of 70 years.

3.—F1[…]

4. Amendment of section 7 of Principal Act.

4.—Section 7 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by—

(i)the substitution for subsection (2) (b) of the following:

and

(ii)the insertion after subsection (4) of the following subsection:

5. Amendment of section 20 of Principal Act.

5.—Section 20 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (5) of the following subsection:

6. Application of section 20 of Principal Act.

6.—(1)Where—

(i)a change relating to the control or management of a business (or part thereof) for the purposes of which a person is employed occurs, but a change in the ownership of the business (or part thereof) does not occur,

(ii)section 20 of the Principal Act would have applied to that change if it were a change in the ownership of that business (or part thereof), and

(iii)an employee of the previous owner accepts, before, on or within four weeks of the termination of his contract of employment with the previous owner, an offer by the new owner of employment in the same place of employment and on terms which are either the same as, or not materially less advantageous to the employee than, his existing terms of employment,

the said section 20 shall apply to that change as if a change of ownership of that business (or part thereof) had occurred.

(2)In this section “previous owner” and “new owner” mean, respectively, the persons who would have been the previous owner and the new owner within the meaning of the said section 20 if a change of ownership of a business (or part thereof) had occurred.

7. Amendment of section 39 of Principal Act.

7.—Section 39 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a)by the substitution for subsection (2) (a) of the following—

and

(b)by the substitution for subsection (2) (c) of the following—

8. Redundancy payment to certain employees dismissed before commencement of Act.

8.—(1)Where an employee who was dismissed before the commencement of this Act was not entitled to redundancy payment under the Principal Act in respect of the dismissal solely because the requirements of the business carried on by his employer for employees to carry out work of a particular kind, or to carry out such work in the place where the employee had been so employed, had not ceased or diminished or were not expected to cease or diminish, the Minister may, at his discretion and notwithstanding the Principal Act, pay to that employee out of the Redundancy Fund a sum equal in amount to the sum to which he would have been entitled under the Principal Act if the said requirements had ceased or diminished or were expected to cease or diminish.

(2)In relation to the amendments of the Principal Act referred to in section 19 (2), the Minister may, in respect of a dismissal or a termination of employment in the period beginning on the 22nd day of January, 1971 and ending on the commencement of this section and notwithstanding the Principal Act, pay to an employee out of the Redundancy Fund any moneys to which the employee may become entitled by virtue of the said section 19 (2).

9. Reference and appeal to the High Court.

9.—The following section is hereby substituted for section 40 of the Principal Act:

10. Presumptions by Tribunal.

10.—For the purposes of a reference to the Tribunal—

(a)a person’s employment during any period shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been continuous;

(b)an employee who has been dismissed by his employer shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been so dismissed by reason of redundancy;

(c)the Tribunal shall, after consultation with any person or body charged by statute with the fixing or determination of minimum wages or rates of pay, or the registration of employment agreements under the Industrial Relations Act, 1946, F2[or the national minimum hourly rate of pay declared by order under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000] have regard to any such minimum as is appropriate or relevant.

11. Right to redundancy payment by reason of lay-off or short-time.

11.—The following section is hereby substituted for section 12 of the Principal Act:

12. Time-limit on claims for redundancy payment.

12.—(1)Section 24 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion at the end of that section of the following subsection:

(2)In respect of a dismissal or a termination of employment which occurs not earlier than 30 weeks before the commencement of this section, section 24 of the Principal Act shall apply as if—

(a)“52 weeks” were substituted for “thirty weeks”, and

(b)the following subsection were inserted after subsection (2) (inserted by this section):

13. Rebates to employers from Redundancy Fund.

13.—The following section is hereby substituted for section 29 of the Principal Act:

14. Other payments to employees from Redundancy Fund.

14.—The following section is hereby substituted for section 32 of the Principal Act:

15. Provisions relating to special redundancy schemes.

15.—(1)Any dispute arising under a special redundancy scheme may be referred by a party to the scheme to the Tribunal and shall be deemed to be a question referred under section 39 of the Principal Act to the Tribunal for a decision on the question.

F3[(2)For the purpose of providing moneys for making payments which under this Act are to be made out of a fund established under a special redundancy scheme, there shall be paid into that fund—

(a)as may be provided in that scheme, contributions by employers, and

(b)advances as provided for in subsections (3) and (4).]

(3)The Minister for Finance may from time to time, on the recommendation of the Minister, advance to any fund established under a special redundancy scheme moneys to enable payments required under the scheme to be made out of the fund, and any advances under this subsection shall be made out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof and shall be on such terms as to interest and repayment as the Minister for Finance may determine.

F4[(4)The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, from time to time authorise the transfer of moneys from the Social Insurance Fund to any fund established under a special redundancy scheme, and any moneys transferred under this subsection shall be repayable to the Social Insurance Fund on such terms (including terms as to interest) as the Minister for Finance may determine.]

(5)(a)A fund established under a special redundancy scheme shall comprise a current account, to be managed and controlled by the Minister, and an investment account, to be managed and controlled by the Minister for Finance.

(b)Save where otherwise specifically provided, sums payable into a fund established under a special redundancy scheme shall be paid into the current account of that fund and sums payable out of that fund shall be paid out of that account.

(c)Moneys standing to the credit of the current account of a fund established under a special redundancy scheme and not required to meet current expenditure shall be transferred to the investment account of that fund.

(d)Whenever the moneys in the current account of a fund established under a special redundancy scheme are insufficient to meet the liabilities of that account there shall be transferred to that account from the investment account of that fund such sums as may be necessary for the purpose of discharging those liabilities.

(e)Subject to paragraph (d), moneys standing to the credit of the investment account of a fund established under a special redundancy scheme shall be invested by the Minister for Finance, and income arising from any such investment shall be paid into that account.

(f)An investment pursuant to paragraph (e) may be in any securities in which trustees are for the time being by law empowered to invest trust funds or in any of the stocks, funds and securities as are for the time being authorised by law as investments for the Post Office Savings Bank funds.

(g)The accounts of a fund established under a special redundancy scheme shall be prepared in such form, in such manner and at such times as the Minister for Finance may direct and the Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine and certify every such account and a copy thereof, together with the report thereon of the Comptroller and Auditor General, shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

16. Offences relating to payments under Principal Act.

16.—(1)A person who fraudulently claims a weekly payment, fraudulently applies to the Minister for a payment under section 32 of the Principal Act or fraudulently makes a claim for a rebate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F5[€5,000].

(2)A person who aids, abets, counsels or procures another person to commit an offence under subsection (1) of the section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F6[€5,000].

(3)Notwithstanding any provision in any Act specifying the period within which summary proceedings may be commenced, proceedings in respect of an offence under this section may be commenced at any time within the period of three months from the date on which evidence, sufficient in the opinion of the Minister to justify a prosecution for the offence, comes to his knowledge, or within the period of twelve months after the commission of the offence, whichever period last expires.

17. Reciprocal arrangements.

17.—(1) The Minister may make such orders as may be necessary to carry out any reciprocal or other arrangements, made with the proper authority under any other Government, in respect of matters relating to redundancy payments, and may by any such order make such adaptations of and modifications in the Principal Act as he considers necessary.

(2)The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section.

18. Aid to persons changing residence or undergoing certain training.

18.—The following is hereby substituted for section 46 (1) of the Principal Act:

19. Miscellaneous amendments of Principal Act.

19.—(1)Each provision of the Principal Act mentioned in column (1) of the Schedule to this Act is hereby amended in the manner stated in column (2) of that Schedule opposite the mention of that provision in column (1).

(2)Notwithstanding section 20 (3), this section, in so far as it relates to the first amendment of section 4 of the Principal Act, the first amendment of section 7 of that Act, the fifth amendment of Schedule 1 of that Act and the fourth amendment of Schedule 3 of that Act, shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 22nd day of January, 1971.

20. Short title, construction, collective citation and commencement.

20.—(1)This Act may be cited as the Redundancy Payments Act, 1971.

(2)The Principal Act and this Act shall be construed as one Act and may be cited together as the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 and 1971.

(3)This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister appoints by order.