32.—F69[(1) When an employee claims that an employer is liable to pay to him a lump sum under section 19 and that—

(a) the employee has taken all reasonable steps (other than legal proceedings) to obtain the payment of the lump sum from the employer and the employer has refused or failed to pay it or has paid part of it and has refused or failed to pay the balance, F70[or]

(b) the employer is insolvent and the whole or part of the lump sum remains unpaid, or

(c) the employer has died and neither probate of his will has, nor letters of administration in respect of his estate have, been granted, and the whole or part of the lump sum remains unpaid,

the employee may apply to the Minister for a payment under this section.

(2) If on an application under this section the Minister is satisfied that an employee is entitled to a lump sum under section 19 which remains unpaid either in whole or in part, the Minister shall pay to the employee out of the F71[Social Insurance Fund] so much of the lump sum as remains unpaid.

(3) Upon the payment by the Minister of a payment under this section all rights and remedies of the employee with respect to the lump sum concerned or, if the Minister has paid part of it, with respect to that part, shall thereupon stand transferred to and become vested in the Minister and any moneys recovered by the Minister by virtue of this subsection shall be paid into the F72[Social Insurance Fund].

(4) Where, in a case falling within subsection (1) (a), the Minister makes a payment to an employee under subsection (2), the Minister shall claim from the employer a sum equal to the amount of the payment made by the Minister under subsection (2) less the amount of the rebate that would have been payable to the employer from the F73[Social Insurance Fund] under section 29 if the employer had paid the lump sum to the employee, save that, where it appears to the Minister that the refusal or failure of the employer was without reasonable excuse, the Minister may either withhold any rebate to which the employer would otherwise have been entitled or reduce the amount of that rebate to such extent as the Minister thinks appropriate, and in either such case the amount of the Minister’s claim against the employer under this subsection may be increased accordingly.

(5) Where, in a case falling within subsection (1) (b), the Minister makes a payment to an employee under subsection (2), the Minister shall be entitled to claim in the bankruptcy, arrangement, administration of the insolvent estate or winding up (as the case may be) in respect of, and only in respect of, a sum equal to the amount of the payment made by the Minister under subsection (2) less the amount of the rebate that would have been payable to the employer from the F74[Social Insurance Fund] under section 29 if the employer had paid the lump sum to the employee.

(6) Where, in a case falling within subsection (1) (c), the Minister makes a payment to an employee under subsection (2), the Minister shall be entitled to claim from the deceased employer’s estate in respect of, and only in respect of, a sum equal to the amount of the payment made by the Minister under subsection (2) less the amount of the rebate that would have been payable to the deceased employer’s estate from the F75[Social Insurance Fund] under section 29 if the employee had been paid the lump sum from the estate of the deceased employer.

(7) For the purpose of this section an employer shall be deemed to be insolvent if—

(a) the employer has been adjudicated bankrupt, has filed a petition for arrangement or has executed a deed of arrangement (within the meaning of section 4 of the Deeds of Arrangement Act, 1887),

(b) the employer has died and his estate, being insolvent, is being administered in accordance with the rules set out in Part I of the First Schedule to the Succession Act, 1965, or

(c) the employer is a company, and the company is insolvent and being wound up.]