THE STATE has already issued redundancy rebates to Aer Lingus for some of the 715 staff who took part in a so-called leave and return scheme in late 2008, even though it is not clear if these payments are legal.
The rebates were made in spite of the fact that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation has yet to formally approve the redundancy scheme.
This arrangement was put under the spotlight yesterday after it emerged that a similar proposal from the Dublin Airport Authority had been rebuffed by the Revenue Commissioners.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus confirmed to The Irish Timesyesterday that the airline had received €5 million in rebates from the State relating to the 2008 redundancy scheme.
This money was included in Aer Lingus’s results for the six months to the end of June 2010.
He said this figure includes money relating to some of the 715 staff who left the airline and then rejoined immediately on lesser terms.
He declined to comment on how much of the €5 million relates to staff who participated in the “leave and return” scheme.
Some of the rebate relates to the 358 staff who took redundancy from Aer Lingus, but did not rejoin the company.
There is no question mark over these rebates.
In total, Aer Lingus expected to receive €11.7 million in rebates from the State.
This unusual redundancy scheme was formulated in November 2008 under the auspices of the National Implementation Body.
It was facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission and ratified by the Labour Court.
Aer Lingus said yesterday that it “remains convinced” the exit of the 715 staff were “legitimate redundancies under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 – 2007”.
“We continue to engage with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Innovation in relation to this matter,” the airline added.
A spokeswoman for the department said it had yet to decide if Aer Lingus qualified for the payments and declined to comment on the tax issues involved.
She also declined to comment on the rebates that have already been made to Aer Lingus.
The scheme allowed Aer Lingus to claim a rebate on some of the cost of the statutory redundancy payments made to staff.
The Revenue Commissioners declined to comment yesterday. But it is understood to be investigating the payments.
Siptu assistant industrial organiser Jason Palmer said that if information provided by Aer Lingus was flawed, it would “have to pay for any losses incurred” by its members.
“We will not tolerate our members receiving anything less than what was agreed in 2008,” he added.
