Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar has told former Debenhams employees that the Government has honoured its obligations to them and exhausted all avenues for a resolution.
Today is the 300th day of their strike in pursuit of enhanced redundancy payments.
Around 1,000 workers lost their jobs when Debenhams Irish operation went into liquidation last April, and since then, they have been campaigning for four weeks' redundancy pay per year of service as provided for under a 2016 collective agreement.
They have maintained pickets at the 11 Irish-based stores, arguing that the remaining stock should be ring-fenced to fund their redundancy demands.
Earlier, they again urged Taoiseach Micheál Martin to make funds available to meet their demand for enhanced redundancy payments.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has told RTÉ that in a letter to the union Mandate today, Mr Varadkar said that while he understood the workers were disappointed, the Government has honoured its obligations to them, paying €13m in statutory redundancy payments.
He also noted that the state had offered a €3m fund for education and training "in light of the exceptional circumstances of the case."
That training fund was rejected by the workers because it failed to deliver actual cash payments.
"At this stage, it appears that all avenues have been explored and exhausted and the Government awaits the outcome of the High Court process," the department said.
Joint liquidators Andrew O'Leary and Kieran Wallace have said that there are no funds available to meet their claim, and that they will only be entitled to the statutory minimum of two weeks per year of service capped at €600 per week from the state's Social Insurance Fund.
An investigation by Labour Court Chair Kevin Foley before Christmas found that the 2016 agreement had "no legal application" once the liquidation happened, and that the liquidators could not make additional funds available within the current legal framework.
Mr Foley recommended that the Government should instead make a €3 million training fund available to upskill the former employees.
The workers and their union Mandate are also seeking urgent implementation of legislation to strengthen employees' rights in an insolvency situation, to prevent a recurrence of this situation in the future.
Mandate General Secretary Gerry Light said the Government could resolve the dispute immediately if the political will were there, but that the Taoiseach had failed to respond to two letters from the union on 13 and 25 January.
"These workers have paid their dues. They've paid their taxes for up to 40 years. The least the Taoiseach and the rest of the Government could do is show their appreciation and respect by making a genuine effort to resolve the dispute," he added.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions accused Debenhams of treating their workforce outrageously, after walking away from them during a global pandemic.
Congress called for a greater sense of urgency to secure a negotiated settlement that all parties could support.
It said this was particularly imperative given the recent announcement of the loss of 490 decent retail jobs with the Arcadia Group, which includes brands like Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins.
Six former Debenhams workers protested outside the company's Patrick Street store in Cork this morning, to mark the 300th day since the company was liquidated and the dispute began.
Madelaine Whelan said they had written to the Taoiseach twice in the past month but had received no reply.
She said they are angry with him with his handling of their situation.
"We are not going away, we are not going to crawl under a rock."
Additional reporting: Jennie O'Sullivan
