Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I welcome, as I am sure the Debenhams workers will welcome, the Taoiseach's words of sympathy and his condemnation of how Debenhams has treated them, but the test is what the Government will do about it. We need to act urgently to do everything we can to make sure that Debenhams does not get away with manipulating the law as it stands to siphon off these assets. Its failure to consult workers and the fact that the State may have to pay out the statutory redundancy gives us certain leverage under that legislation for the insolvency fund to go after the assets of Debenhams, and we should do that. It tried to siphon off those assets but was prevented because of the heroic protests of the workers.

There are echoes of the Dunnes Stores-South Africa strike battle on those picket lines. I encourage the Taoiseach to go down and meet the women because they are an absolute inspiration and they are not going away. They are going to fight for justice. I appeal to the Taoiseach and the Government to do absolutely everything to ensure justice for the workers. The assets are in those shops. Debenhams must not be allowed to take them out. The assets should be liquidated to the benefit of the workers to ensure a just settlement for them.

There is a lot at stake because this is not just about Debenhams workers. We are facing potentially tens of thousands of similar redundancies, so this is a test. Are we going to stand with workers faced with this kind of treatment and the possibility of mass redundancies in this country to prevent that sort of shoddy treatment and to protect workers who have given decades of loyal service, as these workers have?

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