This weekend 15 workers from the Butcher's Block shops in Cork were told their jobs were gone. They were made redundant by text message. Some workers went in to find the shops had been cleared out and the doors locked. They were told that no statutory holiday or redundancy pay would be paid. The workers were advised that the process for the Government to pay redundancy would take weeks and they should go to their local social welfare office for an urgent needs payment. It is six weeks out from Christmas. I know some of these people personally. Some of them have worked in the company for 18 and 20 years and this is how they are being treated by employers. Once again, we have a situation where workers are at the bottom of the list when it comes to liquidations when they should be at the top. The workers in the Butcher's Block have done nothing wrong but work hard all of their lives. We are seeing unscrupulous employers in the tech sector and we see it here now.

The Deputy's time is up.

I will make one last point.

No, we are out of time.

There are families who have saved for their Christmas food and their money has gone now as well.

I am very sorry to hear about the job losses at the Butcher's Block shops and I am very sorry to hear how those people are being treated.

I strongly encourage them to engage with the Intreo service and the Workplace Relations Commission as needs be. The Government is there to help and to make sure that employment rights are enforced. That means that the people affected will get their compulsory redundancy payments, even if we have to pay for them out of the Social Insurance Fund. Exceptional needs payments are available as needed, as is jobseeker's benefit while they try to find new jobs. We can also help with education and training. I strongly encourage the people affected to engage with the State services because we are there to help.

The company cleaned up the shop and took all the assets.