The Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment has paid put €206.5 million to more than 32,000 applicants in redundancy claims according to information provided to Fine Gael Mayo deputy John O’Mahony.
Dep O’Mahony said that claimants are waiting up to eight months to have their claims processed due to the massive backlog.
“This highlights the deep morass which the economy is in,” said Dep O’Mahony. “With 430,000 people on the Live Register, it is no surprise that the redundancy payments section of the Department is suffering under a deluge of claims. According to a parliamentary question I tabled, the section has processed 32,127 claims over the last number of years amounting to payouts of €206 million. On average, €5.7 million a week is paid out in redundancy payments.
“However it is the huge waiting time between submitting an application and having it processed that is of real concern. The average time it takes to process applications from employers filed online is seven months, while claims submitted by post are taking months. There is a backlog of over 42,000 applications and people are suffering real hardship while they wait for their application to be processed.
“The Government has still not got a handle on the situation. Civil servants need to be moved into the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment to expedite these claims. Instead of doing this however, the Minister is sitting on her hands.
“This adds to the impression that Fianna Fáil has still taken no concerted action to address the unemployment crisis. The 430,000 people on the Live Register deserve a clear plan of action from the Government to spark job creation and tackle competitiveness,” said Dep O’Mahony.
According to the Fine Gael deputy, his party is the only party to put together effective proposals to protect and create up to 180,000 jobs through green energy, new technology, and in the small business sector. “The time has come for a new government with a new team to take the country in a new direction,” he advised.
