Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise some points about the intervention of the Garda in an industrial dispute. The dispute I refer to is the Debenhams dispute. Debenhams workers, who are members of the Mandate trade union, have balloted 97% in support of industrial action. That makes this the first official strike of the lockdown and, therefore, something of a test case.

In Cork city last week, staff from a security company removed a safe from the Debenhams store in St. Patrick's Street containing approximately €40,000. Nothing moves in that place without the workers knowing it and by the time the security staff were ready to drive away, they found themselves blocked in the loading bay by 25 strikers. The workers correctly took this action because they believed that stored money and stock should be used exclusively to save jobs or, at the very least, provide decent redundancy payments. The staff from the security company stubbornly refused to restore the safe to the store and a four-hour stand-off ensued. Gardaí were called and, eventually, a senior officer arrived and threatened the workers' leaders - three women - with arrest under charges of false imprisonment if they did not desist. Here we had a group of workers who had been shamelessly abused by their employer, who were fighting for justice, who would normally be on their way home to make the tea for their families, and who were being accused of de factokidnapping and threatened with arrest by senior Garda officers. Under protest, the workers stood aside and let the van pass.

In Dublin last Saturday, gardaí took the names of all of the workers picketing the Henry Street Debenhams store, citing Covid-19 regulations, despite the fact the workers practised social distancing and many wore masks. I would go so far as to say the workers have set an example for any group that wishes to protest during lockdown. Their discipline has been consistent and their social distancing has been organised conscientiously and comprehensively throughout. Yet, this was not the first time gardaí took the names of Debenhams workers. It had been done previously at both Henry Street in Dublin and St. Patrick's Street in Cork. After one such incident, we were treated to a display of hand-wringing here in the Dáil by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, but, as my story illustrates, the Debenhams workers continue to face harassment from gardaí, especially officers from the Anglesea Street station in Cork and the Store Street station in Dublin.

I have two questions for the Taoiseach and I hope there will be an extra minute of time in order that they can be answered.

Is the Taoiseach prepared to apologise to these workers for the treatment they have received at the hands of officers of the State? Given that Covid-19 restrictions may not prove to be a short-term phenomenon, does the Taoiseach accept the need for arrangements that will allow workers to pursue and defend their interests through industrial action without having to suffer constant harassment at the hands of An Garda Síochána?

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