David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While I understand the brevity of the response and the fact the Minister of State may be reluctant to discuss this further, I must stress that there is nothing stopping the State from doing something of its own volition. There is nothing stopping the Minister for Finance starting discussions with Unite and the former workers. I appeal to the Minister of State to use his good office to appeal to him to start those discussions and negotiations. There was cross-party support at today's briefing for that to happen. It should happen because those workers deserve justice.

If it is seen by people in Waterford and those workers that the Government is continuing to hide behind the court and legal issues and dragging its feet on this issue, it will be fiercely resisted. The vast majority of people in Waterford feel very deeply for those former Waterford Crystal workers. For anybody who believes in justice, the Government must do the right thing by those workers. I appeal to the Minister of State to ask the Minister for Finance to arrange a meeting with the delegation and start those discussions, which will happen anyway.