Mr. Gerry Light:

Anything that improves or has the potential to improve the lot of workers, particularly those who find themselves in circumstances such as those presented by Debenhams, Arcadia and others, should be explored. Deputy Barry's point is valid. For a long time now, the trade union movement has been attempting to shine a light on the area of employer PRSI contributions, in respect of which we lag far behind the European norm. Whatever needs to be looked at needs to be looked at. It is a suite of measures. One of the very direct questions and one of the most important ones that were put today is how in the future we seek to achieve a situation whereby workers do not find themselves in circumstances similar to those in which the Debenhams workers and others have found themselves. Deputy Barry's Bill is very important and a very good start and would be a huge development if it were to be passed into law. There are other aspects, however, and I alluded to that in my submission and stated that we need to keep all the avenues open.

Today we got very close to an acceptance that we do not want a change in the current law. The point has been made on a number of occasions that in some way, the implication is that the current law is perfect. It is far from perfect. If it were perfect, there would not be 3,000 individual cases awaiting hearing before the WRC that Mandate is pursuing on behalf of its ex-Debenhams members in the area of improper consultation. That is in respect of both the former employer and the liquidators. We need to take cognisance of that and to ensure that whatever we do across a whole range of measures, we improve the lot of workers and give some solace to those who stood on picket lines for 406 days because that is a very important part of why they stood there. That is what they have told me and others. They have told me, "We are not just here for ourselves, Gerry; we are here for others in the future as well."