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

Yesterday, off Parnell Place in Cork, there was an eight hour stand-off between Debenhams workers and drivers of trucks and vans who were trying to remove stock. A similar stand-off is taking place right now in Blanchardstown. New legislation to protect workers' rights in cases of company liquidation is referred to on page 23 of the programme for Government. My colleague, Deputy Boyd Barrett, raised points about the Duffy Cahill report. The experience of the Debenhams workers shows, however, that new legislation needs to go further than Duffy Cahill in two urgent respects and I ask the Taoiseach to comment. The first is that the 30 day consultation period has to be meaningful. Workers affected and their representatives need to have full sight of the company books and prompt responses. Second, in anticipation of further waves of Covid and the possible reversion to lockdown, legislation needs to provide for a suspension of liquidations that arise or ostensibly arise from the impact of Covid in order to permit time and space to examine the option of saving jobs. I would like the Taoiseach to comment on that.

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