I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. The Taoiseach is welcome back from COP27. Yesterday, I welcomed that he was attending COP27 and that the Government was represented there by him. I called for more urgent action here at home to tackle the climate catastrophe. I think it has been promised that we will have a debate on COP27 in the next week or so. I look forward to hearing more about that then.

I turn to the plight of the 3,000 people in Ireland, many of whom live and work in my constituency, who are employed by Facebook or its parent company, Meta, and currently do not know whether they will be in a job in a few weeks' time. We heard this morning from Facebook that it plans to make 13% of its global workforce redundant. That could mean as many as 390 people being made redundant here. That is a devastating prospect for so many people. It does not just apply to those employed by Facebook because this news follows a spate of lay-offs. There have been announcements from Twitter and Stripe. From news today, we know Zendesk is considering downsizing and Intel is considering job cuts.

There are many thousands of people employed by tech and related companies in Ireland. Not all will be directly affected but many are in fear as they face this appalling prospect of losing their job. In a grim irony, many are discovering their fate in real time through a drip-feed of coverage on the same social media sites that are now threatening to take away their livelihoods. The news about job losses was broken to many Twitter employees when they were suddenly locked out of their email accounts in their workplaces. That is no way to treat humans. It is no way to show any sort of dignity and respect to those who are highly skilled, highly qualified and working in what we might call high-value sectors. However, we know job losses in high-value sectors can also have knock-on effects on low-paid sectors. In Ireland, we have seen chronic conditions for low-paid workers over many years and many of those working in these sectors will also fear the knock-on effect.

I am asking that the Taoiseach and his Government call for much stronger rights for workers. We need to ensure, for example, that we see collective bargaining as a right and collective bargaining in the workplace because many of these tech companies are stridently anti-union. The workers are not organised within the workplaces in these high-value sectors. The lack of representation and collective solidarity may well have an impact now on the sort of redundancy packages we are going to see offered. We also need to see leadership from the Government on improvements to collective redundancy legislation in the event of liquidation. Clearly, that is not the issue today with the tech companies but it is a scenario that devastatingly arose for Debenhams workers two and a half years ago. We still have not seen delivery of the promise to improve collective redundancy rights in the event of liquidation. Will the Taoiseach guarantee strengthened collective bargaining and workers' rights in the face of these lay-offs and projected lay-offs?

The technology sector is going through a difficult phase globally and there are some manifestations of that here. As the Deputy said, Meta has made a global pronouncement that will have implications for Ireland but we have to facilitate and provide for proper consultation between the company and its employees. The employees who may be affected should at least be afforded - it is our understanding they will in this case - proper due consultation. Meta employs about 3,000 people directly in this country and 6,000 contractors. It has dramatically increased its workforce in Ireland over the last number of years. That has been the case with many companies across the technology sector generally. It was good news over a ten-year period to witness that dramatic increase in jobs.

For any workers to learn at this time of year that they may lose their job is sad and difficult news. The role of the Government and its agencies is to work with the company and also the employees to ensure every support is available to employees. That applies both to supports and also potential alternative employment opportunities. In the past six to nine months, we were experiencing almost full employment. It is to be hoped there will be opportunities within the tech sector and broader sectors for anybody losing his or her job following the announcements a number of companies are making.

We must keep the balance right as well, in that sectors go through change and many tech companies have, as I said, undergone very rapid periods of expansion, some of which is clearly being pulled back globally. The world economy is changing, as we know. There are headwinds across the globe and these are impacting on the technology sector. We have been here before. At the moment, the consultation and the work IDA Ireland is doing suggest this is something we are going to have to deal with. However, we need to keep perspective and balance in our analysis of this and the description of what is actually happening. We must see it against the backdrop of very rapid expansion over the last number of years. We must ensure we do everything we possibly can to help the workers in this situation.

We have a good system for doing that and we have managed to do it in the past.

We should also seek out new opportunities that will arise in the reorganisation of this sector. New opportunities will always arrive and it is important that we keep an eye open for them. Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, SOLAS and the Department of Social Protection all stand ready to help workers who could get bad news in the next number of days. That is a very difficult situation for them. More broadly, foreign direct investment, FDI, in Ireland is still very strong and the pipeline is still very strong.

I thank the Taoiseach. It is indeed sad and difficult news. I know of friends, neighbours and constituents who are in a situation where two partners are both working for tech companies. They have massive mortgages and enormous childcare fees. They are locked into these commitments and are facing an uncertain future in which they see prospective job losses. I absolutely accept there has been enormous expansion in the sector, supported by State investment. Let us not forget that. Indeed, I understand the State invested €42 million in Stripe through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF. There must be a quid pro quo. There has to be a sense that companies are now going to treat workers with dignity and respect.

Can the Taoiseach confirm the statement by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, yesterday that penalties and sanctions will be applied where companies are found to be in breach of existing laws requiring, for example, a 30-day notice and consultation period where collective redundancies are being discussed and presented and where there is required to be notification in advance to the Tánaiste's Department? We have seen indications that these legal obligations will be complied with but can the Taoiseach confirm sanctions will follow where there is a lack of compliance? Can he confirm he will be looking to strengthen the rights of workers to ensure they are treated with dignity and respect in similar situations in the future?

All works must be treated with respect and dignity and in line with our law and employment law. I made it very clear in the context of the Twitter announcement that I was not at all happy with the manner of it. Respect and dignity are very important in communication terms. There are established frameworks for communication and there are obligations on employers in proposing collective redundancies, for example, which involve fines if they fail to consult with employee representatives or provide certain information to employees when proposing a collective redundancy. There are fines covering that and the law will be enacted. In the context of Meta, our understanding is there will be full and proper consultation with employees. The same applies to Stripe. The Twitter case was a much different context.

As I said earlier, we have a strong diversity in our FDI mix in Ireland, from the life sciences to financial services and technology. Last year was a record year. This year is still a record year in terms of inward investment but our focus will be on the workers who could be getting bad news in the coming days. We will do everything we possibly can to help them.