Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As others have said, the announcement by Roadbridge that it is entering into receivership has been met by major concern throughout the State but especially in my town of Limerick. There is concern for the plight of the workers, many of whom worked for that company for decades or more. This is, of course, a terrible blow to the workers, subcontractors and their families. There is also a huge concern regarding if or when important local projects contracted to Roadbridge will ever be completed. The projects in Limerick I am referring to are the Coonagh to Knockalisheen road and the houses in Moyross and Southill.

I welcome the intervention by SIPTU in securing supports from the Department of Social Protection for these workers, although it is disappointing that there was ever a suggestion that such supports would be withheld. These workers must now be compensated appropriately for the sudden loss of their employment. We cannot have a repeat of the defeat of the Debenhams workers in 2020. Will the Minister of State outline what steps the Government intends to take to ensure that these workers receive a fair payment, their entitlements and appropriate training, if required, following this receivership? The Minister of State will be well aware that employees have told us they do not know whether money they paid into their pensions, or money they paid to private health companies, is there. All this stuff needs to be clarified. For us, the core of all this is protecting the workers and their families.

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