Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last May, the Debenhams workers bravely ended their 406-day dispute when they accepted the Government's offer of a €3 million training fund. They were only on the picket line because this Government and previous Governments failed to implement the Duffy-Cahill report, yet here we are, 258 days later, and the Debenhams workers are still waiting for that training fund. This cannot be yet another promise broken by Fine Gael, which has never managed to put workers first. There is a need to work with the workers, iron out the details and ensure this fund is delivered. The Debenhams workers stood on the picket line through freezing winters and through scandalous treatment by Debenhams, KPMG and this Government that did not care about them. Government Deputies and councillors stood on the picket lines and made promises to these people but those promises were never delivered on. There were no champagne parties for the workers, no trips to Dubai for wellness and no €81,000 pay increases. These workers were left without redundancy by a company that was very profitable and hived money away to England and other places. Instead, the Government has not even delivered the training fund it promised. It is shameful.

What is even more shameful is that these workers were only in this dispute because the Government never implemented the Duffy-Cahill report. I refer to redundancy loopholes. We have seen it with the Clerys workers, the Coca Cola workers in Cork, the Vita Cortex workers in Cork and the Debenhams workers. These situations have been occurring since the report that would finally see workers put first was published, but the Government has still not delivered on it.

Why is it that when workers, the backbone of the economy, come looking for the most basic level of respect and protections, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party look the other way? This legislation is welcome but it does not go far enough. It does not go where we need it to go. When the pals of the Government are looking for pay increases, ambassador roles or confidential documents, the Government delivers, but it has not delivered for workers and that is why the Bill needs to go a lot further.

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