Redundancy Payments

Thursday, 18 December 2025

Questions (396)

Louise O'Reilly

Question:

396. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he is aware that statutory redundancy pay is only required after two years of service; if he is aware that due to this, some companies hire large numbers of staff and then dismiss them shortly before they reach the two-year mark, only to hire some of the same people again soon after; if he has considered that while legally, this practice is allowed, this practice causes immense hardship for workers whose lives are disrupted repeatedly; if he has considered that Ireland’s current employment protection laws can be easily bypassed and leave vulnerable people especially pregnant workers and those with short service without real security; if he has any plans to remedy this issue; the actions he will take to address it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73438/25]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment

There are a range of protections under employment law for employees facing redundancy.

Redundancy is where an employee loses their job because their employer is closing their business or reducing the number of staff. It occurs when a job no longer exists, an employee is let go and they are not replaced.

Where an employee has been made redundant, they may be entitled to a redundancy payment. Under the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, it is the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy to eligible employees.

In order to qualify for a statutory redundancy payment, an employee must have 104 weeks' continuous employment, have been an employed contributor in employment which was insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts, and be over the age of 16.

The requisite period of 2 years continuous service is to ensure the employee has a reasonable attachment to the employer that is making them redundant. There are no plans to make changes to the eligibility criteria to receive a statutory redundancy payment.

An employee with more than one year’s service is protected under the Unfair Dismissal Act 1977, as amended. In such cases, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the dismissal is both substantively and procedurally fair.

In general, dismissal of an employee due to redundancy is not deemed to be an unfair dismissal. However, in such cases, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the redundancy is genuine and the selection criteria and redundancy process adopted are fair.

Where an employee believes their employer has breached their employment rights, they can make a complaint to the WRC. In most cases, complaints must be made within 6 months of the alleged breach. The WRC can extend this to 12 months if the employee demonstrates reasonable cause.