Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I appreciate the scale of the shock involved but I must be honest and admit I do not know the detailed business background. I reiterate that this business does not come under my agencies and would not be eligible for State support in any form because of its nature. The liquidator acts under the guidance of the court which provides a forum whereby the working out of the issues between the sides is conducted under the same guidance. That should provide fairness in protecting the interests of those concerned.

I do not know the extent to which a liquidator can retrieve a business from a situation such as happened here. That is the duty of the court overseeing process, to see what can be found from this and if a fresh business can be found, to discover the state of play in terms of assets and liabilities and the viability of the underlying business. That is the process which is now in train under the guidance of the court and I do not have a direct role in it, that being the constraint on my office. If and where workers raise issues concerned with employment rights and areas where we have legal responsibility, or if our agencies can offer support in industrial relations issues that might be sorted, we would be more than happy to act. However, this case has only come to my notice as of now and I do not have the levers to deal with issues concerned.

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