Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Duffy Cahill report is a case of a precedent that was not set when the Clerys case happened. The Minister of State said the terms of reference were narrow but it would have been helpful had corporate law been examined in respect of the tactical insolvency in the case of Debenhams. Debenhams may have been well flagged. I have a copy of a Financial Timesreport from 16 April 2020 outlining where Debenhams used administration. It had more than £1 billion in annual sales and 142 high street stores and it was flagging difficulties relating to the coronavirus pandemic. It is a pity that we did not have the directors of Debenhams come to Ireland and show their foresightedness that they could look to such a process so early on. There was no doubt that foreign ownership became an issue with the movement of assets. That is at the crux of the liquidation process, where the assets of the Irish entity were moved and heaped with debt. A twin track is going on here this morning - first, the possible implementation of the recommendations of the Duffy Cahill report and, second, the situation of the Debenhams workers. I have a particular interest, like others, given that Debenhams workers in Waterford continue to be on strike. I note the Taoiseach's comments in September when he spoke of the need for collective agreements to have parity with others in the liquidation process. I hope that is something the Minister of State is actively examining and can be addressed a little sooner.

The situation in Debenhams occurred significantly because of foreign ownership of an Irish trading business. I am thinking of Brexit. Many of the high street stores are UK corporate companies. There is a great deal of trading difficulty at the moment.

Do we know what the situation is? Could we have another Debenhams tomorrow? Perhaps Ms Coogan has an opinion on this. Have we done anything in company law to try to close this loophole that allowed that insolvency to happen?