Sir, – I refer to your articles (Home News, February 9th and 14th) regarding the Vita Cortex workers and wish to congratulate them on their continued persistence in achieving their goals of a fair and reasonable outcome in their dispute with their former employer.
Given the urgency with which the Department of Social Protection has now dealt with their claims for Statutory Redundancy, a matter which An Taoiseach judiciously informed Dáil Éireann of on February 8th, it shows that political pressure and civil disobedience are forces not to be ignored lightly. Indeed, I must admit to my astonishment at just how quickly their claims for statutory redundancy have been dealt with and paid on February 13th (as confirmed by An Taoiseach).
Given the expeditious nature of the discharging of the Vita Cortex claims, one would be left in the mistaken belief that there is no such thing as a backlog of statutory redundancy applications with Minister Joan Burton’s Department of Social Protection. The reality is quite the contrary. There are currently circa 22,500 people previously made redundant who are all going to wait between 12 and 15 months to have their claims dealt with. It is further noteworthy that in recent times the number of claims received per month exceeds the number of claims discharged in that same month and therefore delays shall further extend accordingly. Meanwhile, the section of the department concerned has been cut down from 70 to 24 people.
In both the statements of an Taoiseach and in countless media reports on the matter, a “moral responsibility” has been noted owing from the owners of Vita Cortex to their former employees. Perhaps it is also time that both An Taoiseach and the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, examined their own moral responsibility to act in a similarly expeditious manner and stepped in for those who have been left behind, without a premises to occupy or a Minister to agitate against.
A simple unpolished explanation as to why some people are preferred over any one of 22,500 other persons has not been publicly provided, yet will unquestionable be of interest to many.
To my mind this practice is entirely selective, inequitable and demonstrates arbitrary administrative bias against thousands of people and by extension families throughout the country. These are also people who were left with no redundancy from their respective former, oft errant employers.
In closing, and not wishing to open fresh wounds, if any famous football managers wanted to support those of us in the 22,500 at the back of the queue, please let it be Kenny Dalglish. – Yours, etc,