Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

I also welcome the workers and their trade union representatives. I commend them for standing their ground. A very important message needs to go from this Chamber to unscrupulous employers - we previously heard about the situation in Vita Cortex in Cork - that there is no free-for-all and that things being tough and being in recession are not a green light for every dodger and chancer to trample all over the rights of workers.

There are probably not sufficient words to describe the contempt with which the employers have held the staff of La Senza. Their behaviour has been utterly despicable with wages not being paid and overtime and bonuses being owed. In many cases, they did not even have the simple courtesy to phone people to tell them their jobs were gone.

The workers have taken their stand and they are quite correct to do so. They want to know whether they have our support. For our part in Sinn Féin they absolutely do. The question is whether they have the support of the Government. What does the State propose to do to vindicate the rights of this group of workers? If we do not take a stand in this case and in respect of Vita Cortex we can fairly predict an onslaught on workers in the retail sector and other sectors the like of which has never been seen. This is not acceptable and we need to state this loudly and clearly I ask the Minister of State to tell us what the Government proposes to do and to articulate in the clearest terms his absolute support for the workers and their action.

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