Union Calls For Redundancy Fund Investigation

One of Ireland's largest unions has called for an "immediate investigation" into why funds held in the accounts of a Cork company have not been distributed to workers for redundancy payments.

Vita Cortex said its company accounts had been used since coming under the control of the National Assets Management Agency (Nama), while workers staging a sit in protest at the foam manufacturing plant on Kinsale Road wanted to establish whether they can secure their redundancy entitlements from the accounts which have been frozen by Nama.

Over 30 workers, including 27 SIPTU members, have been staging the sit in at the Vita Cortex plant in Cork demanding that they receive the redundancy payments due to them since the facility’s closure on Friday.

SIPTU Organiser Anne Egar said: “All the assets of the Vita Cortex Cork plant are under the control of NAMA including a €2.5 million cash account, most of which would have originated in the Cork company. NAMA has stated that these funds cannot be made accessed to pay the workers redundancy entitlements as they are held in a different, but related, Vita Cortex company account.

“SIPTU is now calling upon the State agency to reveal how monies held in this account, or accrued interest, have been used since coming under its control and for what purpose and undertake a full examination of the Vita Cortex company structure in order to clarify the interconnectivity of the company’s different operations and bank accounts.”

Vita Cortex is owned by businessman, Jack Ronan, who announced in September that he intended to close the Cork plant stating that the operation’s assets had been frozen by Nama.

“The workers involved are facing Christmas without their jobs or their financial entitlements. They are not prepared to take the pain while the employer, State agencies and banks walk away from their responsibilities,” Ann Egar added.

(DW)