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The Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment has made ‘poor progression’ in handing out lump sum payments owed to employees, according to Deputy Noel Coonan. In September, the redundancy section was processing claims for June 2009. Today the department is still handling claims for the same month.
 Deputy Noel Coonan “Two months on and the Department is still stuck dealing with claims received in June. I accept there has been an exceptional increase in applications lodged over 2009 but with the Government predicting an extra 750,000 people on the dole next year, the Department should be trying harder than ever to significantly reduce waiting times in preparation for this. People are relying greatly on these payments for financial security and they are entitled to be promptly paid their entitlements,” said the Fine Gael TD.
“The recent Budget did not provide a comprehensive strategy to get people back to work. We do not want to be complaining about the queue of over 42,000 people waiting grimly on their redundancy payments. We want to be able to say that people have faced the worst and our economy is recovering but this Government continues to lead us down a bleak path.
Figures released to me through a parliamentary question show the redundancy section is currently processing rebate applications submitted by post from March 2009 and those filed online from April 2009. This means the waiting time is approximately eight to nine months. The Government is not providing an efficient system at a time when recession is biting and people are in desperate need of what is owed to them,” continued Deputy Coonan.
Since January last, the department have processed 45,201 claims. However, there are 42,591 claims still waiting to be processed.
Deputy Coonan has submitted parliamentary questions to Tanáiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan T.D., asking her to outline the number of people in North Tipperary waiting on redundancy payments but the Minister was unable to provide such figures.
The number of incoming redundancy claims is up 96% on the same period last year.
Thurles Chamber’s annual Christmas Dinner was well attended on Thursday night last, by the majority of business leaders in the town together with staff.
One of this years Special Guest Speakers was Mr Mark Fielding CEO of Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association Ltd (ISME) the Independent Business Organisation.
Speaking to those in attendance Mr Fielding stated:
Madam President Anne Strappe, Honoured Guests, Chamber Members, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends, I stand before you this evening with mixed emotions.
As a Thurles man I am humbled and proud to be asked to speak at the 2009 Thurles Chamber of Commerce Annual Christmas Dinner.
 Mr Mark Fielding CEO ISME I am proud, as the CEO of ISME. that I represent the hopes and aspirations, the successes and failures, the hard working community that account for almost 99% of all businesses in Ireland. I represent YOU, the owner/managers of SMALL and MEDIUM BUSINESS throughout this country. I am humble because I return to the place of my birth.
I was born in Suirside; the town that educated me, from Mother Dolores’ classroom in the Ursuline laundry in Suirside, where as a two and three year old I sat with my classmates from the itinerant community, through the primary schools of the Ursulines and Scoil Ailbe and the secondary school of the Christian Brothers. The altar boys, the boy scouts, the street leagues, Thurles Sarsfields, Thurles Rugby club. Where I served my time in JJ Fielding Ltd. as a messenger boy, store boy, van boy and dog walker. As a bar hop in Tom Brereton’s, as a helper in Jackie Griffins as a footer on Tom Ryan’s bog and as an articled clerk in Chambers Fewer and Halley.
Thurles is where I first experienced the sweet taste of success where I set up my very first business and where I first felt the gloom of business failure and where I learned my first business lessons; when you see an opportunity grab it; never flaunt your success and always secure your supply chain. It was Christmas time and I had been selling penny candles to my friends and classmates in Mother Dolores’ class (actually they were getting a bargain at 2 for a penny) and spending my profits in Mrs Condon’s shop on ice cream and bubble gum and sharing my largess with all the other children on the Square. However it was on my third visit to the suppliers that my world came crashing down in Enron proportions, when Christy Deegan, the sacristan collared me with a jumper full of candles on the steps of the Cathedral. Word had got out and my first venture ended, but not before the window of every tinkers caravan was aglow with holy Christmas candles. It was 1954 and I was 4 years old.
Continue reading Thurles Born Mark Fielding ISME Speaks At Chamber Dinner
The redundancy payments section in the Department of Enterprise is currently only processing employer rebate applications made eight months ago. The latest figures available to end September indicate that the number of redundancy claims awaiting processing stands at 43,250.
 Deputy Noel Coonan Incoming redundancy claims for the first nine months of 2009 is at 60,785 which is an increase of 122% on the same period last year (27,373). This figure of 60,785 exceeds the claims lodged for the full year 2008 (40,607).
A major backlog has occurred in the redundancy payments section due to the unprecedented increase in claims lodged there. While Minister Mary Coughlan has taken steps to deliver more acceptable turnaround processing times, it’s clear that further measures need to be implemented. More staff and more resources need to be pumped into the section to provide a better service.
This information was released in response to a parliamentary question by North Tipperary’s Deputy Mr Noel Coonan.
The Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mr. Calleary outlined the situation to Mr Coonan as follows :
“The average time it takes to process rebate applications from employers filed online is 7 months while claims submitted by post are taking 8 months. The Redundancy Payments Section of my Department is currently processing applications filed online from March ’09 and those submitted by post from February ’09. In respect of lump sum payments paid directly to employees in instances where employers are unable to pay the statutory redundancy entitlements, the Section is processing claims dating from June ’09.”
Continue reading Redundancy Payment Section Processing Eight Month-Old Applications
Yesterday in the Dáil Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said there were fears about the mood of the country five weeks away from what is being branded the harshest Budget in the history of the State.
He stated:
“ It seems to me, as a country, we are hurtling headlong into a period of conflict, strife and a lot of division in society”.
Mr Gilmore blamed the looming crisis on Fianna Fáil‘s refusal to agree a way forward with others.
He said a plan of action was needed, through an agreed national recovery deal, to save jobs, prevent home repossessions and resolve the fall-out over public sector pay cuts.
Thurles.info has learned that there are 615 pending claims for Jobseeker’s Allowance and Benefit in North Tipperary. This number, when added to the latest Live Register figures for the area, actually brings the number of people on the dole to over 7,000. Live Register figures for the month of September showed 6,511 people are on the dole in North Tipperary. October’s live register figures are due out this Friday 6th November.
There are 58,282 waiting for Jobseeker’s Welfare payments nationwide. Both Cork and Galway have over 3,000 waiting. Limerick City has over 3,000 alone and in Dublin the waiting list is over 14,000 when pending claims from all local offices are considered.
Continue reading 615 Jobseeker Claims Pending In North Tipperary
The Government has serious questions to answer regarding the present inefficient running of the Thurles FÁS office.
Phone calls to this office go unanswered daily, while people attempting to gain access, find the doors locked and this during a period when 6,511 people sign on the dole in North Tipperary.
 Thurles FÁS (Foras Áiseanna Saothair) office now appears to open only to the public on a Tuesday from 2.15pm to 4.30pm, while FÁS see National Employment Action Plan (NEAP) referrals from Social Welfare on Tuesday mornings and all day Wednesday.
The reason for this, according to Fine Gael Deputy Noel Coonan, is the Government’s recruitment embargo, which is really hitting front line staff and is causing a domino effect and greatly effecting the public who require their services most at this time.
Deputy Coonan stated:
“I am aware that the secretary in the FÁS office on Friar Street, has retired and cannot be replaced because of the recruitment embargo and the manager is retiring today Friday 30th October. It’s my understanding that there is one only employee left working there and she is on a 12 month contract from Dublin. At present there appears to be no effective service plan in place.
I’ve been told that phones are ringing out and irate people are banging on the doors of the Thurles office in Friar Street. Their pleas are going unanswered because the office is hugely understaffed due to the Government’s recruitment embargo. It’s not FÁS staff that are at fault, they work as efficiently as is possible under the present circumstances, but they are let down and put under immense stress by those who govern them.
I am aware that people travel from a large part of North Tipperary to Thurles FÁS office seeking career advice on information and training. Under the present setup they are understandably agitated by the quality of service available. This is a disgraceful way to treat people, as they try to find a route out of these worrying recessionary times.
With 6,511 people currently on the dole in North Tipperary, we now need Government intervention more than ever. We saw gross over-spending at the top by former FÁS CEO Rody Molloy and as usual it’s the grass roots and the people on the ground who are left totally neglected.
I have contacted the Regional Director for FÁS in the Mid-West, seeking clarification as to how and when staff for this necessary provision of services at the Thurles FÁS office will be put in place and now await details of their future strategy in relation to this very serious matter.” concluded the Deputy.
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