Aer Lingus
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Alan Dillon (FG), Mayo

I thank the Deputy for her question. My thoughts are with all workers facing potential redundancy. I understand this is a very difficult time for those involved.
Ireland has a robust suite of employment rights legislation in place to protect workers impacted by redundancy. The Redundancy Payments Act 1967, as amended, requires employers to pay a statutory redundancy payment to eligible employees who are being made redundant and have more than two years’ service. The rules governing collective redundancies are set out in the Protection of Employment Act 1977, as amended. The 1977 Act imposes a number of obligations on an employer that proposes a collective redundancy, which arise when certain thresholds are met. These include undertaking a 30-day information and consultation process with the employees’ representatives and notifying the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment of the proposed redundancies at least 30 days before they take effect. My Department received a notification of proposed collective redundancies from the company concerned on 16 July 2026.
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 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.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22