Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Joan Collins and the rest of the Independent Group for tabling the motion. Former Debenhams workers in Cork are carrying out a 12-hour fast while on a picket line today to raise funds for Marymount hospice in the city. They feel that the people of Cork have been so good to them that it is time they paid them back. Tomorrow will mark 161 days of industrial action taken by Debenhams workers, which brings us in line with the Vita Cortex workers, who ended their action after 161 days. The former Vita Cortex workers say they are fully behind the Debenhams employees as they continue to fight for their entitlements. They have said they support Debenhams workers in their fight for fair treatment. Workers should not have to go to such lengths to secure a just outcome.

We call on the Government to listen to the requests of the Debenhams workers, many of whom I know, given that some of them travel from all the way down in Castletownbere to Debenhams in Cork. The members of the Government who stood with Debenhams workers on the picket line and pledged their support but have disappeared need to come out and support this call and ensure that proper redundancy will finally be given to these workers. This dispute has put tremendous pressure on these workers. It is time for the Government to step up and finally give these workers what they are owed. They are involved in what is now the longest running industrial action the State has ever seen. It is time for the Government to intervene, put an end to this and give the Debenhams workers what they are entitled to. The workers are giving up dozens of hours every week standing outside the stores nationwide to prevent stock from being removed from the site. It is understood that the stock in the various Debenhams stores nationwide is worth in the region of €20 million. The workers believe that the liquidated stock and the cash in the stores should go into the Irish redundancy pot. Instead, 2,000 workers in 11 shops face receiving only the statutory redundancy.

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