Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last week in the House I raised the plight of workers at the Nuremore Hotel and Country Club in Carrickmacross. These workers and their families have been left high and dry by their employer, who appears to have disappeared into thin earth and people are finding it very hard to contact him. These workers have no work and are owed wages, holiday pay and redundancy payments. I commend them for the stance they are taking. I also commend SIPTU, which has been assisting the workers in their plight. I call for the Government to do more to locate the owner. The fact he is there at all was facilitated by the immigrant investor programme, which closed to new applicants last week. I ask that it redouble its efforts to locate the owner to find out his exact plans for this hotel and 18-hole golf course. It is a fantastic facility and has been a focal point for tourism in County Monaghan and the north-east area. It has been a great employer for the town of Carrickmacross and the surrounding areas. I call on the owner of the hotel either to invest the money needed in the facility or else to do the honourable thing and dispose of the property so some other person can come in, invest in this fantastic facility and get the jobs back that were there prior to this situation going off the rails. When workers find themselves in such situations, it is important for the government of the day to reach out to assist them in their plight. They have bills and mortgages to pay and families to keep. They need help and I ask the Government to provide that help.