The spokesman said the company had already cleared through all the stock it acquired as part of a Euro29m deal last year which saw Debenhams take over its retail business and the leases on nine of the eleven properties owned by the Cork retailer.

The sale to Debenhams saw the exit of the 105 year-old chain and the Roches Stores brand from the Irish retail scene.

The Roche family retains ownership of the properties which are thought to be worth over Euro600m.

Debenhams is assessing the mix of concessions operated by Roches; independent retailers such as Kookai, River Island and Oasis operate units within its stores. "A lot of the key concessions will stay but the concessions will reflect the ones that are in the main Debenhams stores, " the spokesman said.

In a trading statement issued to the London Stock Exchange last week Debenhams chief executive Rob Templeman said the company's sales mix had been hit over the last five months by slower than expected clothing sales in the UK "but more importantly as a consequence of the impact of the integration of the Roche stores and their reliance on lower gross margin concession sales."

Debenhams' spokesman said many of the concession operators, including Oasis, were already represented in before it bought Roches. He said Debenhams wanted to increase sales of its own clothing lines. Debenhams has deals with designers such as John Rocha and Jasper Conran. "You'll see more of that product going into those stores, " he said.