redundancy and holiday pay

Office closing and some people being transferred to other branches and some - like me - being made redundant. The company are offering 4 weeks (2 statutory and 2 additional) and are not capping the weeks at €600. I have 8 weeks notice in my contract. My question is can the company force me to take any owed holidays during my notice period if (1) I am not required to work my notice and receiving payment in lieu (2) am required to work my notice.

I was (naievely??) under the impression that the no of holidays accrued to the end of my notice period would be added on to the end of my notice period meaning my P45 would be dated a few days later.

I also assumed that the value of these accrued holidays would be added to my redundancy package.

can anyone advise

They can require you to take your holidays as part of your notice if they require you to work. If they let you go immediately, they have to pay you in lieu of notice plus holidays outstanding.

thanks a mill for the reply watersprite. my real problem is that if i am made work my notice and not in a position to add my holidays onto my notice period then I will be 12 days short of qualifying for maternity benefit?
Any suggestions?

Do you mean qualifying for mat leave or benefit - qualification for benefit is dependent upon prsi payments, qualification for leave is dependent on working (getting a prsi class A stamp) at some point after 24 weeks pregnancy.
If it's the latter then could you explain this to your company and see if they could accomodate you with a later official finishing date, maybe by adding your hols, as you mentioned. Discrimination laws aside, it's not easy for a visibly pregnant woman to get a job.