Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Notwithstanding other issues, I have been engaged with, and in regular contact with, workers. On Debenhams, I am concerned about the situation and would like to have it resolved without any further pressures on the workers, given that they have been picketing for quite a long time in trying conditions and in adverse weather. There have been constraints on the degree to which the Government can interfere in a liquidation process and, indeed, in a legal process. That said, the Tánaiste and the Ministers of State at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputies English and Troy, have been endeavouring to see what can be done. I have also sought, in the widest sense, to see if avenues could be pursued that could lead to a resolution of this. I know Mandate has been working hard on this and, to be fair, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, has also maintained a watchful and helpful engagement on this to see if there are ways we can resolve this. At this stage, I would prefer to leave it at that. I ask the Deputy for space to see if we can get this resolved.

See this speech in context