Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Under our system of company law, workers, as creditors, take precedence over unsecured creditors when a company is wound up. The State has also provided the insolvency fund to protect workers when a company winds up. The difficulty the Deputy raises is a situation in which a company does not go into insolvency. In this case, the hope is that employees would get the money from the company. While a company might go to the courts to wind it up, it probably would not have resources from which employees might get a return. The issue is how employees can access the insolvency fund, which was established as a State protection for workers. The Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, is examining the issue. This will not be resolved by finding a super role for the Minister within company legislation in the realm of insolvencies. The problem is access to the insolvency fund, which is a State-provided safety net. The approach proposed by the Deputy is not the right one.

See this speech in context