Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 July 2026
986. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the mechanisms in place in an Irish context to prevent against targeted redundancy measures against certain cohorts of employees with the support of AI (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55661/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are a range of protections under employment law for employees facing redundancy or the loss of their job.
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. This is set out in the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, as amended.
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 1977, as amended. In such cases, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the redundancy is genuine and that the selection criteria and the redundancy process are substantively and procedurally fair.
However, the 1977 Act also provides for a number of grounds under which a dismissal may automatically be considered unfair. These include: membership or proposed membership of a trade union and engaging in trade union activities; religious or political opinions; the making of a protected disclosure; involvement in legal proceedings against an employer; race, colour, sexual orientation, age or membership of the Traveller community; pregnancy, giving birth or breastfeeding or any matters connected with pregnancy or birth; availing of rights under legislation to maternity leave, adoptive leave, carer's leave, parental or force majeure leave; and, unfair selection for redundancy.
There are further robust legal protections in place for employees who are pregnant.
An employee cannot be made redundant, or be given notice of redundancy, while on maternity leave or additional maternity leave. This is provided for in section 23 of the Maternity Protection Act 1994, as amended.
While normally employees require at least one year’s service with their employer to be covered under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, this requirement does not apply where the dismissal wholly or mainly relates to the employee's pregnancy.
There are additional protections against discrimination on various protected grounds, including gender and disability, under the Employment Equality Act 1998, as amended. This Act is the responsibility of the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality.
These protections apply irrespective of the tools or technologies used by an employer in workforce planning or redundancy processes. Employers must comply with all applicable legislation, including employment, equality and data protection legislation, when making decisions affecting employees.
Where an employee believes their employer has breached their employment rights, they can make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (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.
