“28. (1) In relation to an employee to whom this Act applies, the employment contribution payable by his employer under section 6 (1) (b) (ii) (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978), of the Act of 1952 shall be increased by the amount of the employer's redundancy contribution, and the employer's redundancy contribution shall be payable in respect of the reckonable earnings by reference to which the employment contribution is determined under the Social Welfare Acts, 1952 to 1978, and shall be calculated at the rate of 0.5 per cent of the amount of such reckonable earnings and shall be deemed to be an employment contribution within the meaning of those Acts.

(2) Sections 6 (1) (c) and 6 (1) (d) (inserted by the Social Welfare (Amendment) Act, 1978) of the Act of 1952, shall apply to employer's redundancy contributions to which this section applies in like manner as they apply to contributions by employers under section 6 (1) (b) of that Act.

(3) The Minister may by regulations, made with the consent of the Minister for Finance, vary the rate specified in subsection (1).

(4) Notwithstanding any contract to the contrary, an employer shall not be entitled to deduct from the remuneration of any person employed by him (or otherwise to recover from such a person) the employer's redundancy contribution payable in respect of that person.

(5) Employers' redundancy contributions under this section shall be paid into the Social Insurance Fund.

(6) All sums paid into the Social Insurance Fund under subsection (5) shall be paid out of that Fund to the current account of the Redundancy Fund at such times as may be determined by the Minister for Social Welfare.”.