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

The Deputy is well aware that the Government has honoured its statutory redundancy commitments to workers in Debenhams. The Government is the only party which has honoured its commitments in respect of the workers concerned. The Deputy is correct about the deficiencies in whatever collective agreement had been previously entered into at the time.

We have gone through this with the representative bodies and the trade unions every way we can and we have pursued every avenue. That €3 million is not statutory redundancy. It is a measure to provide some recognition to the workers of the challenges they face as a result of being made redundant. We have a broad statutory redundancy scheme that applies to all workers who become redundant as a result of company liquidations. We have been clear and consistent from the outset as to what we could do within the legal framework available to us.

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