The liquidator of the Debenhams Irish operation KPMG has ruled out on legal grounds ring-fencing the proceeds of the liquidation to boost the redundancy entitlements of around 1,000 workers who lost their jobs after the shops closed.
The source stressed that all of the preferential creditors are State bodies, adding: "There are no circumstances in which the assets, even if fully realised, will satisfy the debts owed to the State by Debenhams, which exceed €20 million. The workers have been officially picketing the company's 11 Irish stores for the past 13 weeks calling for a fair redundancy package.
This led to the withdrawal of the funding support provided by the Debenhams group to the Irish business - adding without that support, the Irish operation was no longer viable. However, Socialist Party TD Mick Barry insisted that boosting the Debenhams workers' "entitlement" to four weeks pay per year of service under a pre-existing collective agreement should take precedence over other debts owed by DRIL - even if those debts were to the State and the taxpayer.