Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

In the second week of January, I was called by a La Senza worker and asked to come out to the occupation they had just begun because their jobs had been terminated and their wages had not been paid. Yesterday, I received another telephone call from a La Senza worker who said their promised wages from KPMG had still not been paid. In addition, they will be subject to emergency tax because KPMG has messed up their tax credit entitlements, which means they will not get much of their money for a considerable time. They have also had massive delays in accessing the social welfare system because they did not get their P45 forms until yesterday morning, after two weeks of haranguing KPMG on that issue. Since June, the Jane Norman workers have been without a month's wages due to them when the company went into administration. Jane Norman is now trading in this country with a new workforce that is paid less and on lower conditions. The Connolly shoe workers in Dún Laoghaire have been on strike for over a year after their employment was terminated. Despite several Labour Court rulings in their favour, the employer has not yet paid the moneys owed. These issues raise the question of what this Government will do to stop rogue employers treating workers like this. It needs legislative action so that employers cannot do this to workers. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene on the specifics of the cases I mentioned and to bring forward legislation to protect workers. If we can do it to protect bankers, can we do it to protect workers?

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