10.—(1) Where, in pursuance of section 6 of this Act, the Minister makes any payment to an employee in respect of any debt to which that section applies, any rights and remedies of the employee in respect of that debt (or, if the Minister has paid only part of it, in respect of that part) shall, on the making of the payment, become rights and remedies of the Minister.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, where rights and remedies become, by virtue of subsection (1) of this section, rights and remedies of the Minister, there shall be included amongst them any right to be paid in priority to all other debts under—

(a) section 4 of the Preferential Payments in Bankruptcy (Ireland) Act, 1889; or

(b) section 285, as amended by section 10 of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1982, of the Companies Act, 1963,

and the Minister shall be entitled to be so paid in priority to any other unsatisfied claim of the employee concerned being a claim which, but for this subsection, would be payable to the employee in such priority; and in computing for the purposes of any of the provisions of the said section 4 or the said section 285, as so amended, any limit on the amount of sums to be paid, any sums paid to the Minister shall be treated as if they had been paid to the employee.

F79[(2A) Where the Minister makes a payment to an employee under section 6(2)(a)(iii)(II) (inserted by section 15 of the Redundancy Payments Act 2003) of this Act, that payment shall be recoverable by the Minister as a debt to be paid in priority to all other debts under—

(a) section 81 of the Bankruptcy Act 1988, or

(b) section 285 (as amended by section 10 of the Companies (Amendment) Act 1982 and section 134 of the Companies Act 1990) of the Companies Act 1963,

and any amount of that payment which would, but for the limit set by section 6(4)(a) (as may be varied by regulations under section 11(5)), be payable to an employee, shall be treated for all purposes as if it were a payment required to be paid by virtue of an award under section 12(1) of the Act of 1973.]

(3) Where in pursuance of section 7 of this Act the Minister makes any payment into the resources of an occupational pension scheme in respect of any contributions to the scheme, any rights and remedies in respect of those contributions belonging to the persons competent to act in respect of the scheme shall, on the making of the payment, become rights and remedies of the Minister.

(4) Any sum recovered by the Minister in exercising any right or pursuing any remedy which is his by virtue of this section shall be paid into the F80[the Social Insurance Fund].