Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that non-Government motion No. 9 be taken ahead of non-Government motion No. 1. I will read that into the record. It may be useful to do so for colleagues. The motion reads: "That Seanad Éireann calls on the Rehab Group/Enterprises to implement the recent Labour Court recommendation which called on Rehab to honour the long-standing redundancy agreement with SIPTU, with particular reference to the 38 staff made redundant by Rehab Enterprises in Limerick in 2021." I wish to acknowledge the support offered on several occasions by our Deputy Leader and put on record my appreciation of that support. I ask that all of us unite today regarding this motion.

Yesterday was not such a pleasant day in Limerick. The rain was lashing down for most of the day and for an hour between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., I and my colleague, Deputy Quinlivan, stood with these Rehab Group workers who were laid off two years ago and have been denied their proper redundancy payments. They stood in the rain outside the Rehab Group building and got to hand in a letter. I spoke to many of them. They are vulnerable workers. Some of them suffer from visual impairments, some of them have learning difficulties and some have Down's syndrome. Each of them were at a complete loss as to how their employer, which they have given decades of service to, in many cases, has left them effectively locked out for the last two years from the redundancy package they are entitled to.

This organisation received millions of euro in State funding and is supposed to value inclusion, respect and integrity. It has disregarded a Labour Court recommendation. The disturbing part is the Labour Court took a lot of time on this issue and appointed an independent financial analyst to examine whether Rehab Group could afford to pay these workers the redundancy agreement they had through their union, SIPTU. The independent analyst found that Rehab Group had €20 million in cash or cash equivalents, as well as €54 million in assets and could well afford to honour this agreement. Interestingly, the same analysis also highlighted expenditure of €813,000 in packages paid to senior management in 2018 and 2019. In other words, if you are one of the top bosses in Rehab Group, there is no problem putting together a very sweet package of tens of thousands of euro - more than that, frankly. If you are an ordinary worker who has given decades of service or if you are a vulnerable worker, then you have literally been left to twist in the wind for the last two years.

I salute the SIPTU union, which is absolutely determined to ensure these workers receive justice. Its members were there in force yesterday as well. I ask colleagues from all parties and none to unite today to send a clear message to Rehab Group management that their behaviour is entirely unacceptable and it is time they did the right thing, stood by these workers and paid them the money they are owed.