Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá mé buíoch den Cheann Comhairle as an seans seo an ábhar tábhachtach seo a phlé. Tá a lán daoine agus a dteaghlaigh i nDún Dealgan buartha tar éis an droch nuacht faoi The Authentic Food Company an deireadh seachtaine seo caite.

I first wrote to the company on 21 September having been contacted by workers and their representatives about rumours that The Authentic Food Company was closing. The company did not respond to my initial correspondence or to representations from Sinn Féin councillors, Ruairí Ó Murchú and Anne Campbell. Instead, on 19 October, the company went to the High Court. Staff at then received notice that the company was allegedly insolvent and unable to pay wages. I met the liquidators this morning.

The managing director of The Authentic Food Company, Nik Basran, claims that management carried out a comprehensive review of the business to try to find a way to make it profitable over the long term but he said this was not possible. The Minister of State has a responsibility to ask what type of review it is that excludes the workers' representatives and refuses to engage directly with Unite. What kind of review is it that it can be manipulated by employers so that these workers have no notice pay, P45s, references, redundancy payments or income for six weeks. This is very calculated, and it is sharp practice. Will the Minister of State give the Dáil a commitment that he will investigate whether this is a tactical insolvency? We need to establish whether the British-based The Authentic Food Company deliberately wound down the Dundalk plant. The workforce has been treated shamefully. They cannot gain access to social welfare. I urge the Minister of State to use his discretion to ensure the workers get their social welfare payments as soon as possible.

I have spoken to Enterprise Ireland to encourage it to find a buyer for the plant and to assure it of Sinn Féin support for this. I ask the Minister of State to do everything possible to have the workforce re-employed as quickly as possible. The workers need their social welfare entitlements anois.

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