Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táim an-bhuíoch don Teachta Joan Collins as an rún seo a chur os comhair an Tí. Five months ago more than 1,000 Debenhams workers in 11 stores across the Republic of Ireland were told the company was going into liquidation and they were to lose their jobs. Rather than set aside funds to pay the workers a proper redundancy package, the company transferred assets to the UK parent company and tried to claim the stock held in Irish stores as British stock. The treatment of its loyal and dedicated workforce is nothing short of scandalous, especially as many workers had given valuable service to the company for more than two decades. The workers did not take this shoddy treatment sitting down. They have stood up for their rights to fight back to claim what is rightfully theirs, and for justice.

5 o’clock

What the Debenhams workers are asking for is not unreasonable. They just want a proper redundancy package to be put in place. Funds from the disposal of stock held in Irish stores, worth approximately €23 million, should be ringfenced to fund the workers redundancy package. Additionally, what they want and what everyone with workers' interests at heart wants is the implementation of the Duffy Cahill recommendations from 2016. The report compiled after the Clerys scandal has lain virtually dormant since then. Clearly this Government wants to protect big business. This new Government could have included in its programme for Government a commitment to address the issue of companies transferring assets from one business to another in order to evade their responsibilities to their workers. Deputy Micheál Martin was appointed Taoiseach on 27 June

Debenhams so members of the new Government would have been fully aware of the issues and the demands of the Debenhams workers when the Government was formed. The Government said that it would conduct a review of the issues relating to collective redundancies and the liquidation of companies but we already have a report that says everything that needs to be said about such matters. A review was conducted four years ago, resulting in the Duffy Cahill report. We do not need another report or a time-wasting review. All the workers want at this time is for the Debenhams management to abide by its own collective agreement on redundancies. The way these workers have been treated should never have been allowed to happen. It is the responsibility of this Government to make sure that it does not happen to any other workers in the future. It is not too late for this Government to act to ensure that the Debenhams workers get justice.

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