Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Hear, hear.

It is noticeable from all the commentary tonight that no guarantees are being given to the workers in terms of their position and there is no engagement with them. Let us be clear, what is happening to the workers is brutal. They have been given very short notice and this has come as an enormous shock to them and their families. In the contributions from the Government side, we heard a great deal of flowery rhetoric about this Bill being historic and all the rest of it but for the 850 workers concerned, it has serious and profound consequences. Their rights and entitlements need to be spelled out. As we speak, negotiations are taking place on the Croke Park agreement. The employees of IBRC have rights and entitlements and have been effectively working for the State in recent years. The Government must take a much more interventionist approach than we have witnessed to date.

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