Payments under Brexit scrappage scheme for trawlers do not replace statutory redundancy, WRC rules

The Workplace Relations Commission has determined that compensation paid under the State's Brexit scrappage scheme does not satisfy statutory redundancy obligations. Seven migrant fishermen employed by Millbay Fishing Company Ltd challenged the company's refusal to pay redundancy entitlements after their vessels were decommissioned in 2022. The company had received €2 million in public funding for scrapping the St Clair and St Rose trawlers and provided the workers with €1,000 per year of service under the scheme's terms. The company argued such payments constituted redundancy compensation and that additional statutory payments would unfairly advantage non-EU workers over Irish and EU fishermen paid through catch-sharing arrangements. Adjudicator Jim Dolan found no scheme documentation supported this interpretation and upheld all seven complaints. Millbay Fishing Company Ltd must now pay the workers combined statutory redundancy totalling €42,000. The case was heard at the Workplace Relations Commission.