diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 779e1af..7545be5 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -27,10 +27,19 @@
   before_script:
     - source `find .. -name section_helper.sh`
     - mkdir -p "$SAXON_HOME"
+    - start_section saxon_license_debug "Preparing Saxon license"
+    - echo "SAXON_HOME=$SAXON_HOME"
+    - echo "SAXON_LICENSE=$SAXON_LICENSE"
+    - ls -l "$SAXON_HOME" || true
+    - ls -l "$SAXON_LICENSE" || true
+    - test -r "$SAXON_LICENSE" && echo "SAXON_LICENSE readable: yes" || echo "SAXON_LICENSE readable: no"
     - |
       if [ -r "$SAXON_LICENSE" ]; then
-        cp "$SAXON_LICENSE" "$SAXON_HOME/saxon-license.lic"
+        cp -v "$SAXON_LICENSE" "$SAXON_HOME/saxon-license.lic" && ls -l "$SAXON_HOME/saxon-license.lic"
+      else
+        echo "No readable SAXON_LICENSE file variable present"
       fi
+    - end_section saxon_license_debug
     - start_section install_linux_packages "Installing missing Linux packages"
     - apt-get -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" update
     - apt-get -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" install -y libxml2-utils curl openjdk-17-jre-headless xmlstarlet
@@ -75,10 +84,19 @@
   before_script:
     - source `find .. -name section_helper.sh`
     - mkdir -p "$SAXON_HOME"
+    - start_section saxon_license_debug "Preparing Saxon license"
+    - echo "SAXON_HOME=$SAXON_HOME"
+    - echo "SAXON_LICENSE=$SAXON_LICENSE"
+    - ls -l "$SAXON_HOME" || true
+    - ls -l "$SAXON_LICENSE" || true
+    - test -r "$SAXON_LICENSE" && echo "SAXON_LICENSE readable: yes" || echo "SAXON_LICENSE readable: no"
     - |
       if [ -r "$SAXON_LICENSE" ]; then
-        cp "$SAXON_LICENSE" "$SAXON_HOME/saxon-license.lic"
+        cp -v "$SAXON_LICENSE" "$SAXON_HOME/saxon-license.lic" && ls -l "$SAXON_HOME/saxon-license.lic"
+      else
+        echo "No readable SAXON_LICENSE file variable present"
       fi
+    - end_section saxon_license_debug
     - start_section install_linux_packages "Installing missing Linux packages"
     - mkdir -pv $APT_CACHE_DIR
     - apt-get -o dir::cache::archives="$APT_CACHE_DIR" update
@@ -123,10 +141,19 @@
   before_script:
     - source `find .. -name section_helper.sh`
     - mkdir -p "$SAXON_HOME"
+    - start_section saxon_license_debug "Preparing Saxon license"
+    - echo "SAXON_HOME=$SAXON_HOME"
+    - echo "SAXON_LICENSE=$SAXON_LICENSE"
+    - ls -l "$SAXON_HOME" || true
+    - ls -l "$SAXON_LICENSE" || true
+    - test -r "$SAXON_LICENSE" && echo "SAXON_LICENSE readable: yes" || echo "SAXON_LICENSE readable: no"
     - |
       if [ -r "$SAXON_LICENSE" ]; then
-        cp "$SAXON_LICENSE" "$SAXON_HOME/saxon-license.lic"
+        cp -v "$SAXON_LICENSE" "$SAXON_HOME/saxon-license.lic" && ls -l "$SAXON_HOME/saxon-license.lic"
+      else
+        echo "No readable SAXON_LICENSE file variable present"
       fi
+    - end_section saxon_license_debug
     - start_section setup_ssh "Setting up SSH"
     - apt-get update
     - apt-get install  -y rsync openssh-client