John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On random and targeted inspections, it would be very useful for the committee to receive a breakdown, sector by sector, indicating where inspections were carried out. There seems to be a heavy emphasis on construction, which is welcome because the problem is rife in that sector. It is also rife in other areas. As such, it would be very useful to learn how many targeted and random inspections have been carried out by the Department, Revenue and the Workplace Relations Commission in the past five years. As I stated, in his report Philip Boucher-Hayes stated it was endemic in RTÉ. I would love nothing more than to see the Department, Revenue and the WRC roll up to RTÉ to carry out targeted inspections. If it has not happened, it should. No sector should be immune.

It is interesting that the Department has not prosecuted anyone and that prosecutions are taken by Revenue. Do the penalties in place need to be looked at and strengthened? I would appreciate a comment on this issue.

I mentioned a Bill and would like to hear the views of the officials on it. There are massive concerns. People are not bringing cases against their bosses because of the repercussions. The anti-victimisation legislation is welcome, but it will not address the issue. There is a need for specific stand-alone legislation.

An interesting point was made about State contracts for school, housing and hospital projects. A provision can be inserted into a contract to ensure a certain number of apprentices will be taken on or that a certain number of local people will be employed. Measures can be put in place and built into contracts. It would be useful to get a view on this issue. If it has not happened, it needs to happen because it is something that needs to be put in place, in tandem with legislation, to tackle the issue once and for all.