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

If ever there was a demonstration that there is one law in this country for the rich, the powerful and big business and another for working people, we saw that demonstrated in the Four Courts yesterday, where KPMG, the liquidators of Debenhams, sought and got an injunction against Debenhams workers. This means workers who have been treated in the most despicable fashion by their employer and are engaged in an official dispute to fight for justice and fair redundancy now face – these workers include constituents of the Taoiseach - the real prospect of finding themselves imprisoned if they continue in their entirely peaceful and legitimate fight for justice. It is outrageous that should be the case. Workers face the prospect of jail and the wrath of the law; meanwhile, Debenhams, which has treated these workers disgracefully and has manipulated if not broken company law in their efforts to hide assets from these workers, and KPMG, which makes a fortune in contracts from this State and will no doubt be handsomely paid for their role in this process, face no interrogation for their role in this situation. It is appalling. This company tactically unloaded €200 million of debt onto Debenhams Ireland, which had nothing to do with that firm.

This is the company that stood up in the courts and gave evidence in April to a court of law that the online business worth €30 million was part of Debenhams Ireland, which every worker knows because the sales of that went through each individual store of Debenhams Ireland, and a few days later then said it was not part of Debenhams Ireland even though there is court testimony to that effect. What is Revenue doing about that? What is KPMG doing about that disgraceful treatment?

See this speech in context