Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply, which I am a little disappointed with. I understand the State cannot compel an employer to make a payment above statutory but, as a Minister of State, I would have thought he would have a responsibility to support the industrial relations machinery of the State. The Labour Court is the highest court in that regard. It has made a clear call on Rehab to pay these very vulnerable workers the moneys they are due under the collective agreement. We both know there has been a whole host of issues over collective agreements in recent years. I would think it is quite within the Minister of State's powers to ask Rehab Group to respect the recommendation of the Labour Court. This is the Labour Court, which is the industrial relations court of the State. When one reads the history of this dispute, and in particular the incredibly cynical attitude of the Rehab Group in relation to dragging out this process - as I said, these workers have been waiting 18 months and longer for the redundancy entitlements agreed collectively - it should not be allowed to walk away from that collective agreement. The Labour Court has said it should not walk away from this agreement. I ask the Minister of State to endorse the Labour Court's recommendation in this instance and give badly needed support to those vulnerable workers and their families.