The following requirements are mandatory for a redundancy to be deemed “fair” in Ireland:

- There must be a “genuine reason.”  This will presumably be easy for us to establish. 

- The selection criteria must be appropriate.  I assume this is of less importance where the person being made redundant is a “one of one” – i.e., the only XML       person performing the job in question that the client no longer requires

- There must be a consultation process.  This is where we have the problem with Brendan.  This process could take a couple of weeks, and includes informing the employee of:

- The proposed redundancy

- The procedure we’re following

- The selection criteria we intend to use

- Discuss alternatives that you have looked at and ask the employee if they have any suggestions, and

- Providing the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy if they’re interested.

After this meeting, we would provide the employee with an “at risk letter.”  Then there would be another couple of meetings to discuss any updates, and to discuss any suggestions they have. Where no alternative to redundancy can be found, a final meeting is held to tell them they are being made redundant and what the redundancy payment will be. We then provide the formal notice of redundancy.