Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

That would not be the case. The difficulty that would arise if we did not have this provision is that companies would find themselves unable to restructure in Ireland, effectively being forced abroad. In the case of the employees cited in the Deputy's example, it would leave them worse off as they would have no alternative to redundancy. It was never intended that exceptional collective redundancies arising where an employer has more than one site, for example, one in the midlands and one elsewhere, should prevent a company from restructuring in Ireland. That is only in the context of the existing operation in the second location already having established terms and conditions.

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