Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is not to the detriment of other employees.

I am conscious of running out of time and I have a question for our colleagues from the trade union movement. In fairness to the Chair and the committee, we have been speaking about this issue for years. The previous Government promised action. It had a report. As Mr. Light has said, it has been sitting on a shelf ever since. We are now six years on from the Duffy-Cahill report. Why do the witnesses think there has been such a marked reluctance on the part of governments to deal with this issue given that we have seen the further tragedy of Debenhams since the Duffy-Cahill report? There is every likelihood, given the challenges faced by the retail sector, that there will be another Debenhams and Clerys in the coming months. Why do the witnesses think there is such a marked reluctance to go beyond, and again I will quote Ms McElwee, discussions, consultations and engagement? Why do they think there has been no action from governments to tackle the disgraceful situation that workers from Debenhams and others have found themselves in?