Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

With all due respect to the Ministers of State, Deputies English and Troy, the fact that the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, is not in the Chamber does not just show contempt for the Opposition and the left - we are well used to it at this stage - but also shows contempt for the 1,000 former Debenhams workers. That has not gone unnoticed. He is also showing disrespect for the workers at St. Mary's nursing home on Merrion Road, which is facing possible liquidation by the Sisters of Charity, which is using the argument that if it had to pay redundancy, it would be bankrupt. It is not at that point yet.

These people are watching to see exactly what other companies have done. We know what happened in the past with companies like HMV, La Senza, Connolly Shoes, Game, Paris Bakery and Pastry Limited, TalkTalk, Clerys and now Debenhams and St. Mary's nursing home. We know there will be future cases as well. As has been said, there are 69,500 companies using the emergency wage schemes and they will be affected very badly when those schemes are cut.

Fianna Fáil is at 10% in the polls and would normally have its finger on the pulse with such matters, as the Debenhams workers enjoy huge support from the people in this country. The public support is absolutely massive. The party would normally have its finger on the pulse but clearly it does not.

The programme for Government was published 93 days ago but I will read instead from the terms of reference of the Duffy Cahill report. It states:

Hence, the focus of the examination is on how the legitimate interests of employees could more effectively be safeguarded in situations in which collective redundancies arise from the liquidation of an employer following corporate restructuring in which assets that might otherwise have been available to protect those interests are transferred to a related person.

The mealy amendment states:

further notes that the Government is committed to, and is determined to, deliver on a number of actions in the programme for Government, including to: - review whether the legal provisions surrounding collective redundancies and the liquidation of companies effectively protect the rights of workers;

This was done four years ago with the Duffy Cahill report. The programme for Government came out 93 days ago and we still have nothing to protect the workers facing technical insolvencies. The Government should be ashamed of itself when it states it will review what has already been reviewed in the Duffy Cahill report and which has been rejected. The Government also intends to review the companies legislation, indicating in the amendment that the Company Law Review Group, CLRG, did not include the implementation of the Duffy Cahill report in its recommendations. It did not do it because it was not in the group's terms of reference to look at it.

The doublespeak of the Government is horrendous. There are workers on the picket line whose lives have been disrupted for over 160 days because the law allows companies to technically make their companies insolvent while taking any moneys away on which the workers could call. It is absolutely reprehensible behaviour. The Minister of State mentions a review of the Duffy Cahill report but it has been there for four years. The Government should really be ashamed of itself.

The Debenhams national shop stewards' committee has unanimously endorsed a Mandate-ICTU campaign to secure urgent legislation relating to the Duffy Cahill report and the suggestion in our motion for ring-fencing an insolvency fund like the funds that exist in several other European countries. The Debenhams workers have put their names to this campaign. They want the Government to introduce legislation urgently to enact the recommendations of the Duffy Cahill report. They want the Government to pay the extra two weeks of redundancy they should get, with Debenhams to be pursued under that legislation.

The Government could ask the liquidator to extend the length of time for the liquidation to allow all the legislation to be enacted. That is what the workers are looking for, along with Mandate and ICTU. That is what they have said to the Ministers of State, Deputies English and Troy, as well as the senior Minister, Deputy Varadkar. They want to walk away from the picket lines. They do not want to be there at Christmas. I spoke to the shop steward on Henry Street earlier and she said if the recommendations of the Duffy Cahill report had been implemented, these people would not be contemplating having their Christmas dinner on the picket line. That is how strongly they feel about this. They are not going to walk away from the picket line or the assets in those shops. These people know these assets could potentially be pursued by the Government so they could be paid.

I read the CLRG report and it is over 120 pages. It considered issues covered by the Duffy Cahill report relating to company law. Deputy Connolly raised relevant sections of the Companies Act 2014, including sections 599 and 608. The Government had the audacity to state in its amendment that "The CLRG did not include the implementation of the Duffy-Cahill Report in its recommendations". There was not one mention of the Duffy Cahill report in that publication from the CLRG because it was not asked to consider it. It dealt specifically with companies law and there were no new recommendations, despite ICTU disagreeing. There was no recommendation to change the law as it said companies legislation could be affected, with costs being key.

This is not about Deputy Joan Collins passing a Private Members' motion. Workers wanted this issue brought into the Dáil for discussion, debate and a response from the Government. They want this legislation. They want their jobs and conditions and the contracts they have signed with companies in good faith to be protected. These companies can easily afford to pay their wages.

As I said earlier, I was hoping that the Tánaiste could appear and provide assurances that the Government is seriously looking at how to speed things up, in full awareness that these workers could be left with only the statutory payment of two weeks per year. I hoped to hear about the Government's desire to secure these workers' holiday pay and everything to which they are entitled. I hoped to hear that the Government was looking at the Duffy Cahill report and how to implement it immediately and would get its officials to prepare the necessary legislation in the next two weeks.

The point has been made. We brought massive legislation through this Dáil overnight to bail out the banks. We sat here until 5 a.m. to pass that legislation. In contrast, some 93 days have passed since the programme for Government was adopted and for 160 days these workers have been on the picket line, fighting for their rights.

I ask the Minister to go back to his own party. Yesterday I heard one of its members on radio saying he was saddened that Fianna Fáil seems to be losing contact with its roots. He said it is an older party that is not recruiting young people. Why would they join when Fianna Fáil does not represent them by enforcing their contracts? I appeal to the Government to take this more seriously and to implement the changes the workers, Mandate and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions is asking for.

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