Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy made a very good point. I have been receiving literally a daily phone call from one of the ladies in Safe Ireland. I have no doubt that that will not change. If there are any tweaks that need to be made, we will definitely make them. I thank the Deputy for writing to me on the matter, as he has done on several occasions.

Several other Members raised the issue of those returning from maternity leave and the wage subsidy scheme. I will address the matter even though it is not the responsibility of my Department and is that of the Department of Finance. I do not think anybody, whether it was those who devised the scheme and the legislation that went through the Houses or whoever, ever intended to discriminate against anybody, least of all a woman coming back to the workforce after having a baby. We all know it is wrong and we all know it has to be changed. It will be fixed this week. The difficulty arises in respect of the Deputy's second question, that is, how to change it. The legislation passed by the Oireachtas, which refers to a specified worker, would have to be amended, and we all know where we are at regarding the two Houses at the moment. We are trying to find a way we can do it that does not require legislation. That is not as easy as it sounds. It sounds like a really easy thing to fix - just fix it and allow them back in - but we will have a resolution to it at some point this week.

The second question the Deputy asked me was on extending maternity leave for those already on it. Again, not wishing to be smart to the Deputy, but it does not fall under my remit. The policy is owned by the Department of Justice and Equality. I am sure it is considering the requests that have been made. I know that a very large petition is being circulated at the moment. My Department just pays the benefit. If I am told to extend the benefit, then obviously we will become part of the conversation. We have not yet had a meeting on the matter, but I am sure the Department of Justice and Equality is considering the requests that have been made to it.

I think the Debenhams workers have acted with such dignity and composure in recent weeks. It has really bothered me, although I have not been able to do anything about it, that they continually find their names being taken at pickets when others are doing other things that seem to be flouting the law. I very much feel for the workers. They have acted in a wholly dignified manner to assert their rights. Some of them have worked for the company for 40 years. How they have been treated by their employer in recent months does not reflect what should be good employer relationships and certainly does not reflect the commitment, work value and ethic that the workers, many of whom are women, have given to the company through the years. That is a real pity and shame.

I have exchanged letters with Mandate in recent days and it has asked me to invoke the powers under the section. My Department gave me a response that it did not think this legislation, which is very old - it is 1970s legislation - gave me the power to do what we were asked to do. I decided yesterday to go to the Attorney General to be absolutely sure that advice is correct. If I can do anything to help, even to get these people treated with the respect they deserve, not least by their employer and now by the liquidator, then I will do it, and have no doubt about that. Unfortunately, the legislation does not allow me to intervene. It allows me to engage with an employer, and unfortunately we are at the stage now where the High Court has appointed a liquidator and I cannot interfere in that legal process, much as I would love to stick my nose in. I can reassure the workers that the State will always be here for them and it certainly will not let them down with regard to their statutory entitlements or the leave they have built up. I absolutely wish there was some statement coming from the liquidators, not least to Mandate Trade Union, the representative body of the workers, but also to the workers themselves. They deserve, at the very least, that respect.

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