Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 7, line 1, to delete "section 2(1A)(b)." and substitute the following:"section 2(1A)(b), or the employer has been found to have engaged in exploitative work practices which the foreign national was subjected to.".

I know it was not meant by the Minister of State, but our offices received an avalanche of amendments in recent days, which makes oversight on our part difficult. The purpose of amendment No. 7 is to name the wrongdoing - the exploitative work practices, as such - by the employer against whom a civil action has been taken.
With regard to amendment No. 8, the legislation allows for compensation to be awarded on the basis of the minimum wage or the minimum rates provided by statute or registered employment agreements. I understand why the Minister of State seeks to do this.

However, we tabled this amendment for a reason. For example, although everyone else working in a restaurant might be getting paid between €10 and €12 per hour, one waiter might only be getting the minimum wage. The compensation should reflect the real wage being paid to comparable staff members and not the minimum wage that could be expected in that sector. Otherwise, if someone seeking to exploit a person must pay compensation, that amount would still not match the cost of what should have been paid in the first place.