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

For more than 150 days now, more than 1,000 workers have waged a truly inspiring and heroic struggle for a just settlement following the ruthless and cynical behaviour of Debenhams, their employer, to execute a tactical liquidation in order to leave those workers, who had given decades of service, absolutely high and dry without a penny. Due to their struggle, they have forced the issue of the injustice done to them to the top of the political agenda and although we have had sympathy from the Government, it continues to hide behind various excuses and is doing absolutely nothing to resolve the dispute to ensure that those workers get justice.

This morning, the Taoiseach said on the radio that we cannot invent a scheme in order to give justice to these workers. I strongly challenge that. First, the Debenhams’ workers are in the plight they are in because of the failure, specifically, of the Government that the Tánaiste led to address the issues that arose from Clerys and other types of tactical liquidations over many years. The Tánaiste, specifically, and his Department, have a moral responsibility to get a just settlement for these workers.

The claim that this cannot be done is belied by the fact that although KPMG's offer of €1 million for 1,000 workers who had decades of service was absolutely insulting, that it could make any offer at all proves it can be done. If KPMG can offer €1 million, it can offer the €13 million that is needed to give the two plus two solution. It is unconscionable that Revenue, which is owed €20 million, would not waive its position as creditor when it has benefited from the taxes paid by those workers for 24 years. Those taxes would more than cover the cost of putting the Debenhams workers rather than Revenue at the top of the creditors list. The Government could then go after Debenhams, a company KPMG says has no assets but it turns out has €95 million in the bank, a €2.2 billion turnover and, in the past week or two, revealed that it had €50 million more than it thought it had. It was hiding behind subsidiary companies to load debt on Debenhams in order to avoid paying workers a just settlement. The Tánaiste's excuses will not fly. The workers in Cork ended their occupation this morning and have decided to put the focus now on the responsibility of the Government to give them the just settlement they deserve and which it is responsible for, given that it failed to legislate on the Duffy Cahill report during the Tánaiste's years in government.

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