The 300 permanent employees at Debenhams' Dublin store stand to benefit from a savings related employee share ownership scheme.

Mr John Hodges, a director of Debenhams Retail (Ireland), said the scheme is designed to give the Irish employees "benefits as close as possible under Irish law to those available to colleagues working in the UK".

Under the scheme, employees at the end of a set savings period, will have the opportunity of buying shares in Debenhams at £2.94 sterling, a 20 per cent discount to the market value on October 27th 1998, Debenhams said. This compares with a market value of around £3.85. A spokeswoman said the minimum saving to qualify will be £20 -Irish pounds per month and the maximum will be £250 per month.

Debenhams intends to launch a new share option scheme next January.