Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

Does the Minister agree that almost three years to the day after this company, in which the Government was the major shareholder, went into liquidation that the unsecured creditors do not know how much they will receive following the Minister's reply? Much was said in the last Dáil session about the way Gama Construction treated its workers but the way the Government has treated the workers and unsecured creditors in IFI in Arklow is outrageous.

Will the Minister give some indication when the unsecured creditors might know when they will receive some payment? Hundreds of thousands of euro are owed to small family businesses around the greater Arklow area. I am sure it is no different in the area around Cobh. The Minister stated he did not know the total figure owed to unsecured creditors. I would like to know why, three years later, we still do not know that figure, which I am sure could be calculated quite easily if the Government, a major shareholder in the company, inquired of the people behind it.

See this speech in context