Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

This is an important petition - not just for the petitioner, but in light of the wider implications for many people. A series of firms have been liquidated and employees have been left high and dry - at least, they would see it that way - as regards whether they can have proper recourse. Our deliberations could feed into suggestions for the legislation. I agree that we should hear from the petitioner, but we should also hear from representative organisations that have dealt with some of the situations in which workers have been left high and dry.

Workers at Connolly Shoes in my area have been on strike for four years, have gone through the employment appeals process and have won all of their cases, yet the employer appears to have got away with ignoring them completely. This type of issue needs to be addressed. The attendance of representatives of the trade unions that have dealt with these situations frequently would be useful. In particular, many of MANDATE's members have faced this situation.

I suggest that we write to the Minister, who has indicated that he will draft legislation covering this general area. He has not responded to the petitioner's specific proposals on the legislation's contents and how the legislation might be handled. We should seek a more specific response from him.