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

If only it was as simple as the Deputy articulates it, but it is not and he knows that. That is the unfortunate reality. The implementation of the Duffy-Cahill recommendations would not have resolved this. The Government is committed to and is undertaking the reform of company law, particularly in improving the rights of workers where collective agreements have been formulated and signed off by both employers and unions and to give greater and stronger protection to such collective agreements in the event of liquidations than currently. That should happen and the Government is committed to making that happen but retrospectively applying that will not resolve this situation.

I have maintained an interest in this issue all along. I have not led people up a hill with a view that it can all be resolved very easily. My gut instinct is that it cannot, particularly when the liquidation is in the High Court and within the Court's parameters and procedures. Governments cannot just walk in and make declaratory interventions of the kind that the Deputy suggests. That said, I will still try to exhaust every opportunity to try to get some meaningful response for the workers concerned. I regret that the WRC channel has not borne fruit and that the talks broke down earlier this week.

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