(1) At any time during the period of 30 days referred to in section 9 or 12 of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 (as the case requires), a proposal to create collective redundancies may be referred to the Redundancy Panel -

(a) by employee representatives acting with the approval of the majority of those whom they represent who are affected by the redundancy proposal, or

(b) by the employer concerned,

by notice in writing addressed to the Chairman of the Panel in the care of the Secretary General and sent or delivered to the Secretary General at the principal office of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

(2) The Secretary General shall arrange for a reference under subsection (1) to be forwarded without delay to the Chairman of the Redundancy Panel, and the Panel shall -

(a) within 1 working day of receipt by the Chairman of the reference -

(i) inform the Minister of the fact, and

(ii) invite affected parties to make submissions to it in relation to the proposal,

and

(b) within 7 working days of receipt by the Chairman of the reference -