Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Act 2026

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Insertion of sections 4A to 4H in Principal Act

6. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following sections after section 4:

“Notice to employer of amount due to employee

4A. (1) An employee, or a person acting on an employee’s behalf, may serve notice on the employer in the prescribed form setting out all amounts that the employee considers are due to the employee from the employer.

(2) In this Act, ‘deeming applicant’ means the employee by whom, or on whose behalf, a notice is served under this section.

Application to Minister for employer to be deemed insolvent

4B. (1) This section applies where—

(a) an employer on which a notice is served under section 4A—

(i) is not taken to be, or to have become, insolvent in any of the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f), (h) or (i) of section 1(3) on or before the date on which the deeming application is made, and

(ii) does not pay, to the deeming applicant, the amounts referred to in the notice within 8 weeks from the day on which that notice is served,

and

(b) the amounts referred to in the notice became due to the employee—

(i) during the period of 18 months ending on the day on which section 6 of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Act 2026, insofar as it relates to this section, or any provision of this section, comes into operation, or

(ii) after the period referred to in subparagraph (i).

(2) Where this section applies, the deeming applicant may apply to the Minister in the prescribed form for the employer to be deemed insolvent (in this Act referred to as a ‘deeming application’).

(3) A deeming application—

(a) shall include a copy of the notice served on the employer in accordance with section 4A, and

(b) may include—

(i) information provided to the deeming applicant by or on behalf of the employer relating to the employment relationship, and

(ii) information that is publicly available relating to any of the following:

(I) the employment relationship between the deeming applicant and the employer;

(II) the employer’s trading status;

(III) the extent to which the employer has ceased acting as an employer in relation to the employee or any other person.

(4) Where the Minister is satisfied that an application under subsection (2) is made—

(a) in relation to an employer to which this section does not apply, or

(b) by or on behalf of an employee to whom this Act does not apply,

the Minister—

(i) shall notify the deeming applicant of that fact, and

(ii) shall not take any action under sections 4C to 4E in relation to the application.

Notice to employer of making of deeming application

4C. Subject to section 4B(4), the Minister shall, within 21 days from the date on which a deeming application is received, serve notice on the employer concerned informing the employer of the following:

(a) that the application has been made;

(b) the identity of the deeming applicant and the amount to which the notice under section 4A relates;

(c) that the employer may respond to the Minister, in writing, in accordance with section 4D within such period, being not less than 4 weeks from the date of the notice, as the Minister shall specify.

Response of employer to deeming application

4D. (1) Subject to subsection (4)(b), an employer on which a notice under section 4C is served may, within the period specified in the notice—

(a) provide the Minister with such information as the employer considers relevant to the deeming application, and

(b) request that the Minister provide the employer with information that—

(i) was provided as part of the deeming application, and

(ii) was not included with the notice under section 4C.

(2) Where the employer on which a notice under section 4C is served—

(a) is a natural person who is, at the time the notice is served, acting as an employer in respect of any employee, the employer may inform the Minister, in writing, of that fact within the period specified in the notice, or

(b) is not a natural person and is, at the time the notice is served, continuing to trade, the employer may inform the Minister, in writing, of that fact within the period specified in the notice.

(3) The information that an employer provides to the Minister under subsection (1)(a) may include the following:

(a) details of any payment made by the employer to a deeming applicant in respect of amounts relevant to the deeming application;

(b) where the deeming application relates to an amount referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii), (iii)(III) or (iv) of section 6(2)(a), the extent to which the employer disputes an amount, or part of an amount, to which the deeming application relates.

(4) Where an employer requests information under subsection (1)(b) within the period specified in the notice under section 4C—

(a) the Minister shall, within 21 days from the day on which the request is received, provide the employer with the information where—

(i) the information can be provided in a manner (including in redacted or anonymised form) that ensures that personal data, other than the personal data of the deeming applicant and the employer, are not provided with the information, and

(ii) the Minister is satisfied that the information requested is relevant and that it is appropriate, in all the circumstances, to provide the information,

and

(b) the period within which the employer may provide the Minister with information under subsection (1)(a) shall stand suspended on the day the request is made and shall resume on the day on which the Minister, in writing—

(i) provides the employer with the information, or

(ii) confirms that there is no such information relevant to the application.

Deeming employer insolvent

4E. (1) The Minister shall deem an employer to be insolvent for the purposes of this Act where—

(a) the employer—

(i) has provided the Minister with information under section 4D, or

(ii) has provided no such information within the period specified in the notice under section 4C,

(b) the employer has not, under section 4D(3)(b), disputed the entirety of all amounts due to the employee, and

(c) the Minister, having regard to the matters referred to in subsection (2), is satisfied that the employer—

(i) in the case of an employer who is a natural person, is no longer continuing to act as an employer in relation to the employee or any other person, and

(ii) in the case of an employer who is not a natural person, is no longer continuing to trade.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(c), the matters to which the Minister shall have regard are—

(a) all relevant information provided to the Minister by the deeming applicant under section 4B,

(b) all relevant information provided to the Minister by the employer under section 4D,

(c) the taxpayer information of the employer, and

(d) where the employer is not a natural person, all information on the register (within the meaning of section 2 of the Companies Act 2014 ) that relates to the employer.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the Minister shall notify the employer and the deeming applicant—

(a) where the employer is deemed insolvent under this section, of that fact, or

(b) where the employer is not deemed insolvent under this section, of that fact.

(4) Where an employer does not provide information to, or request information from, the Minister under section 4D, the Minister may elect not to notify the employer under subsection (3).

(5) Where an employer is deemed insolvent under this section, that shall not influence any other consideration of, or process regarding, whether or not the employer is insolvent for any other purpose.

Application to Minister for employer to be deemed insolvent in relation to period before coming into operation of Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Act 2026

4F. (1) An employee or a person acting on an employee’s behalf may apply to the Minister in the prescribed form, accompanied by such information as the employee considers to be relevant to the application, for the employer to be deemed insolvent under this section.

(2) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), the Minister shall deem an employer to be insolvent under this section for the purposes of this Act where—

(a) the application under subsection (1) is made—

(i) no later than 2 years from the applicable date, or

(ii) where the Minister is satisfied that, due to exceptional circumstances outside the control of the employee, it was not possible for the employee to make such an application within the period referred to in subparagraph (i), no later than 2 years from the end of that period,

and

(b) the Minister, having regard to the matters referred to in subsection (3), is satisfied that the employer—

(i) in the case of an employer who is a natural person, ceased acting as an employer, in relation to the employee or any other person, during the applicable period and did not, after such cessation, resume acting as an employer, or

(ii) in the case of an employer who is not a natural person, ceased trading during the applicable period and did not, after such cessation, resume trading.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), the matters to which the Minister shall have regard are—

(a) all relevant information provided to the Minister under subsection (1),

(b) the taxpayer information of the employer, and

(c) where the employer is not a natural person, all information on the register (within the meaning of section 2 of the Companies Act 2014 ) that relates to the employer.

(4) The Minister shall notify the employee by whom, or on whose behalf, the application under subsection (1) was made—

(a) where the employer is deemed insolvent under this section—

(i) that the employer is deemed insolvent under this section, and

(ii) of the date on which the Minister, having considered the matters referred to in subsection (3), considers the employer to have become insolvent under this section,

or

(b) where the employer is not deemed insolvent under this section, of that fact.

(5) Where an employer is deemed insolvent under this section, that shall not influence any other consideration of, or process regarding, whether or not the employer is insolvent for any other purpose.

(6) Where the Minister is satisfied that an application under subsection (1) is made—

(a) in relation to an employer that is taken to be, or to have become, insolvent in the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (a) to (g) or (i) of section 1(3) on or before the date on which the application under subsection (1) is made, or

(b) by or on behalf of an employee to whom this Act does not apply,

the Minister—

(i) shall notify the employee of that fact, and

(ii) shall not take any action in relation to the application under this section.

(7) Where the Minister is satisfied that an application under subsection (1) is made in respect of a debt to which section 6(2), as it stood on the relevant date (within the meaning of section 6), did not apply, the Minister shall not take any action under this section in relation to the application, insofar as it relates to that debt.

(8) In this section—

‘applicable period’ means the period beginning on the 22nd day of October 1983 and ending on the day before the applicable date;

‘applicable date’ means the day on which section 6 of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Act 2026, insofar as it relates to this section, or any provision of this section, comes into operation.

Serving notices under certain provisions of Act

4G. A notice served on an employer under section 4A, 4C or 4E may be sent or given to the employer in any of the following ways:

(a) where the employer is a natural person, by sending the notice by prepaid post to the address at which the employer ordinarily resides;

(b) where the employer is a company—

(i) by sending the notice by prepaid post to the registered office of the company, or

(ii) where the company has not given notice to the Registrar of the situation of its registered office, by delivering the notice to the Registrar;

(c) where the employer is a partnership, by sending the notice by prepaid post to the head office or a principal office of the partnership.

Treatment of personal data

4H. (1) Where—

(a) a relevant body holds—

(i) the personal data of an employee or employer, or

(ii) the taxpayer information of a person,

and

(b) the Minister considers the data or the information is necessary and proportionate for the performance of the Minister’s functions under section 4E or 4F,

the Minister may request the data and the information from the relevant body.

(2) Where a relevant body holds data or information to which a request under subsection (1) relates, it shall disclose the information and the data, other than special categories of personal data, to the Minister as soon as practicable.

(3) The Minister shall enter into a data-sharing agreement with each relevant body relating to the disclosure of personal data under this section, and the agreement shall—

(a) specify the names of the parties to the agreement in a schedule to the agreement,

(b) specify the information to be disclosed,

(c) specify the purpose of the data-sharing,

(d) specify the function of the relevant body to which the purpose referred to in paragraph (c) relates,

(e) specify the legal basis for the data-sharing and for any further processing, by the parties to the agreement, of the information to be disclosed under the agreement,

(f) specify whether, where information is disclosed under the agreement, the disclosure will be of information in relation to individual data subjects or classes of data subjects,

(g) specify whether the disclosure of information under the agreement will be on a once-off or ongoing basis,

(h) specify how the information to be disclosed is to be processed following its disclosure,

(i) specify any restrictions on the disclosure of information after the processing referred to in paragraph (h),

(j) include an undertaking by the parties to the agreement to comply with Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation in disclosing information under the agreement,

(k) where a data protection impact assessment has been carried out in relation to the data-sharing, include a summary of the matters referred to in Article 35(7) of the General Data Protection Regulation in a schedule to the agreement,

(l) specify the security measures to apply to the transmission, storage and accessing of personal data, in a manner that does not compromise those security measures,

(m) specify the requirements in relation to the retention of—

(i) the information to be disclosed, and

(ii) the information resulting from the processing of that information,

for the duration of the agreement and in the event that the agreement is terminated,

(n) specify the method to be employed to destroy or delete—

(i) the information to be disclosed, and

(ii) the information resulting from the processing of that information,

at the end of the period for which the information is to be retained in accordance with the agreement,

(o) specify the procedure in accordance with which a party may withdraw from the agreement, and

(p) include in a schedule to the agreement a statement summarising the grounds on which the Minister considers the disclosure of the information to be necessary and proportionate for the purpose of performing the functions under section 4E or 4F, as the case may be.

(4) In this section—

‘data protection impact assessment’ means an assessment carried out for the purposes of Article 35 of the General Data Protection Regulation;

‘data subject’ has the same meaning as it has in the General Data Protection Regulation;

‘processing’ has the same meaning as it has in the General Data Protection Regulation;

‘relevant body’ means the Registrar and the Revenue Commissioners, or either of them, as the case may be.”.