The State is considering suing the owners of Clerys to make them cover the cost of redundancy payouts.

Last July, 460 workers lost their jobs when the iconic Dublin department store shut down.

The Department of Social Protection was forced to pay €2million of taxpayers' money to staff who were left unemployed.

But according to today's Sunday Business Post, the Government wants to use the Companies Act to recoup the money from the owners, Natrium, fronted by D2 Private property developer Deirdre Foley.

The Department of Jobs appointed a officer to investigate the sale of Clerys which saw a sit-in by workers who say they were given short notice about the store's closure.