Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

From Clerys to Debenhams, when a company goes into liquidation ordinary workers lose out. Unfortunately, nothing has changed since the closure of Clerys. Successive governments have failed to implement reforms or protections in the liquidation process to ensure that workers get what they are entitled to. I have seen much debate in Leinster House and an enormous amount of lip service paid to the workers of this country, but I have not yet seen the introduction of the necessary laws to protect their entitlements.

In 2015, we saw the historic Clerys department store on O'Connell Street close for good, resulting in the loss of 450 jobs and livelihoods. At that time, we saw a tactical insolvency where an individual company came in and created a corporate veil between itself and its responsibilities to workers, concession holders and the State. We saw a situation where the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government at the time, carried out the Duffy Cahill report but refused to act upon it. As a result, we saw a cost to the State of €2.5 million in redundancy payments to those workers. Where is that money and the millions of other euro of taxpayers' money spent on redundances, which the State had to take care of as a result of companies not paying their fair share and not doing what they were responsible for?

At the time, I saw platitudes by the Fine Gael-Labour Government whose members talked about how terrible this was. I debated the issue then and I remember bringing about legislation which sought to pierce the corporate veil at the time. That legislation was refused by Fine Gael and the Labour Party. I do not know if anybody else saw it, but I just witnessed a fine demonstration by Deputy Ó Ríordáin on how particular political parties, when in government, ignore the needs of workers in this country. At the time, in 2015, I distinctly remember trying to convince the Labour Party Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, of the necessity of passing laws regarding the corporate veil. I saw that political party get rid of the Sunday premium, which had the effect of reducing the wages of about 200,000 low-paid workers. If anybody juxtaposes those actions from the Labour Party when it was in government with the fine performance we saw from Deputy Ó Ríordáin just a couple of minutes ago, it will show the breathtaking neck of political representatives in this Dáil.

Today, we saw the Fianna Fáil Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Troy, again offer tea and sympathy to the hundreds of workers in this country who, year after year, get stuffed by the legislation that is in place. Again, he refused, when in power, to carry out the necessary actions that would actually help these individuals. That again stands in stark contrast with the words of Fianna Fáil when it was in opposition. When it was in opposition, Fianna Fáil backed a Bill I was involved in creating, similar to this Bill, which would have meant workers were prioritised with regard to their status when it came to redundancy. Fianna Fáil is a different political party in opposition compared to when it is in government. That is what is wrong with the political establishment in this country. Politicians will put their arms around people at the gates of Leinster House, will give them tea and sympathy all they like but, unfortunately, the establishment political parties in this country will not stand up when they have the power to do something in government. It is heartbreaking to see.

This issue needs to be resolved now. It is one of many issues that has led to a serious divide in Irish society. One of the biggest problems that exists currently on the planet, and in this country, is the increasing divide between the wealthy and the rest of the population. According to Oxfam, 62 people in the world own as much wealth as half its population. In Ireland, that gap between rich and poor is increasing all the time. It is reckoned that the middle 60% of the population is seeing its wealth decrease year on year to about 45% of the average wealth of the country. The over-concentration of wealth in the hands of the few is one of the biggest problems that exists. It robs billions of people of the necessities of life with regard to decent food, water, education and healthcare but it is also one of the most destabilising elements of modern society.

There is no doubt in my mind that a number of elements have led to that divide between rich and poor and the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few. Taxation injustice is one of its biggest drivers but the way in which legislation governs work in this country is another. The proliferation of bogus self-employment is an incredible element within Irish society. Governments have talked about it for years but have done precious little about it. It is estimated that at least 20,000 subcontractors in the construction industry are in bogus self-employment in Ireland and that number may well be higher. That does two things. It allows certain employers not pay their fair share when it comes to taxation, it robs workers of their protections and entitlements as regards work, and it creates poverty in those working groups within the State. Workers should be employed directly. They should receive legal entitlements for the fruits of their labour. Bogus self-employment forces workers into subcontracting and allows some contractors shirk those responsibilities.

It is now imperative that these issues are addressed. The economic situation over the next number of years will worsen. That is a shocking truth being ignored by many of the establishment parties in this country. There will be major difficulties in the economy over the next number of years. A large number of retailers, both small and large, will not be able to deal with the changes within the economic environment that currently exists. We will see situations like Debenhams arise again and again. Are we simply going to have the same debate in Leinster House, or in this building which costs the taxpayer €20,000 a day to run, or will we put a full stop to this type of behaviour in order that workers have something to fall back on if they lose their jobs? We have a situation where unemployment currently stands at 25%. Youth employment currently stands at 60%. The national debt has jumped €40 billion since the pandemic started and thousands of small and medium enterprises, SMEs, have closed their doors for good in this State.

It is beyond time and imperative that we try to economically recover from the pandemic and the Government-imposed lockdowns and restrictions but that we put in place the necessary rights and legislation for workers to provide that when their employment ends, they have something to fall back on.

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