Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support this motion on workers' rights. In particular, I support a living wage, the right to unionise and the right to collective bargaining, which is being denied to so many. Today, Debenhams workers held a protest outside this building to highlight the mistreatment and abuse they have received from the Debenhams UK company. These workers are only looking for fairness, their entitlements and fair redundancy. I am proud of them because what they are doing is standing up for all workers in this country who are in the same position. A number of years ago, we had similar issues in Cork with companies like Vita Cortex and Coca-Cola, and workers had to have sit-ins and protests for months before they finally got a fair redundancy package. If the Debenhams workers have to do the same, they are right to do so because, at the end of the day, this is all about fairness and justice. Low-paid workers in this country kept the country going during the pandemic. I have asked the Minister in both this Government and the previous one what we have done to show them our gratitude. When this country was at its most vulnerable, these people stood up and went out to keep the country, shops, supermarket and hospitals going. It is about time we recognised this effort and respected them for the work they have done.

During the pandemic I was contacted by a number of people who are 65 years of age and who were retired through letters and notifications. That is wrong. People have an entitlement to work if they wish and they should not just be let go with a piece of paper that says "thank you but goodbye". We need to ensure people have that right to work if they wish to do so. When workers in this country look for justice, they get the law and the law is against workers and for big business.

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