Mr. Padraig Dooley:

Current enforcement is done by civil enforcement. Normally, an individual, a union or ourselves, on behalf of the Minister, can take a case to the Circuit Court. It is not a successful method. In 2011, there were over 800,000 in awards referred to us between the EAT and the Labour Court. We collected 88,000 of these. In 2012, there 453,000 in awards referred to us, of which we received 105,000.

Normally what happens is a complainant asks us to take a case on their behalf. We generally have a look at the insolvency of the case because in many cases the business has ceased or the employer is on social welfare. We have problems when it is in the limbo area of being abandoned. The proposed legislation provides for civil enforcement, which works in some cases, and criminal prosecution. In certain areas, we are provided with the powers to go after directors. Section 37(3) of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 is one such provision.