Glegola v Minister for Social Protection [2018] IESC 65 (20 December 2018)

Glegola v Minister for Social Protection [2018] IESC 65 (20 December 2018)

Irish law failed to provide a mechanism for employees to access the Social Insurance Fund in informal insolvency situations as required by Directive 2008/94/EC. This failure constituted a sufficiently serious breach of EU law, and the applicant was entitled to Francovich damages as the breach directly caused her loss.

Citation
[2018] IESC 65
Parties
Applicant/respondent: Magdalena Glegola; Respondent/appellant: The Minister for Social Protection; Respondent/appellant: Ireland; Respondent/appellant: The Attorney General
Jurisdiction
Ireland
Judgment Date
20 December 2018
Procedural Posture
Appeal / Supreme Court Judgment on Appeal From Court of Appeal
Outcome
Appeal dismissed
Legal Topics
Employer Insolvency, Employee Protection, Transposition of EU Directives, Francovich Damages, Social Insurance Fund, Collective Insolvency Proceedings
Employment Law European Union Law Insolvency Law Employer Insolvency Employee Protection Transposition of EU Directives Francovich Damages Social Insurance Fund +1 more

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Parties

Magdalena Glegola

Applicant/respondent

The Minister for Social Protection

Respondent/appellant

Ireland

Respondent/appellant

The Attorney General

Respondent/appellant

Procedural Posture

Appeal / Supreme Court Judgment on Appeal From Court of Appeal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether Irish law correctly transposed Article 2(1) of Directive 2008/94/EC regarding informal insolvency situations
  2. 2 Whether the applicant was entitled to Francovich damages for failure to transpose the Directive

Ratio Decidendi

Irish law failed to provide a mechanism for employees to access the Social Insurance Fund in informal insolvency situations as required by Directive 2008/94/EC. This failure constituted a sufficiently serious breach of EU law, and the applicant was entitled to Francovich damages as the breach directly caused her loss.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed

Orders

  • Supreme Court affirms Court of Appeal decision awarding Francovich damages to the applicant
  • State liable to pay €16,818.75 to the applicant for failure to transpose Directive 2008/94/EC