Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. By way of clarification on a number of matters in his reply, I understand that no redundancy payments have been sought by the Gleeson Group from the Department of Social Protection. Would the Minister of State agree that the fact that the Gleeson Group has not sought the portion of redundancy payments that a company in normal circumstances would be entitled to, in itself, is an admission that it is wrong in what it did. Under normal procedures, the group would have applied in the normal way for the money and would have been given it without any questioning. Given that we have highlighted this matter, through the Minister of State's Department, to the Department of Social Protection and the facts surrounding this case, I sincerely hope that the relevant Department will not pay any portion of the redundancy payments until such time as this case goes in front of the Employment Appeals Tribunal, an application for which has been applied for by the workers' union. I seek clarity on those two issues. The matter has been sent for hearing and I ask the Minister of State, through his office, to ensure no payment is made to this company. Putting it bluntly, it would be a slap in the face to every trade union member in this country and every taxpayer who funds the payments if the Gleeson Group was allowed to get this 15% of the redundancy money by allowing it to apply after sacking these workers because they are trade union members. I ask the Minister of State to watch that space for me and those involved and ensure that nothing happens until the appeal has been heard at the Employment Appeals Tribunal.