Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 October 2020
64. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will request the LRC to consider nominating a mediator to examine if a resolution can be reached between a company (details supplied) and the liquidator of the company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29437/20]
View answerThe Government cannot intervene with a liquidator, who has a statutory duty to realise assets and distribute to creditors in accordance with the law. Equally the Government has no statutory power to intervene in a court-supervised liquidation that is subject to oversight of the High Court.
The State guarantees statutory employment rights to the workers of Debenhams. If a company is unable to pay statutory redundancy, then employees will be provided for under the Social Insurance Fund.
I must emphasise that Ireland’s system of industrial relations is essentially voluntary in nature and that responsibility for the resolution of industrial disputes between employers and workers rests in the first instance with the employer, the workers and their representatives. I would like to reiterate that the WRC is available to any interested parties who may require it.
While I have no direct role in these matters I stand by the professionalism of the industrial relations machinery of the State who are always available to facilitate a solution where both parties are prepared to work with those institutions.
