Mr. Joe Ryan:

The Deputy is right that there is a lot of confusion about agencies and a claim has been made that all those who come in through the employment permit scheme do so through agencies but they do not. They are directly employed by the companies and agencies have no role whatsoever in this aspect of employment. With regard to the wider agency workers from Europe, the numbers are minimal and in the vast majority of cases, staff are employed directly by companies. It follows through from the employment permit scheme that any company that avails of such permits is audited, and rightly so, by the Workplace Relations Commission. When it is on site visiting companies, it is to verify compliance with employment permit legislation, as well as aspects of regular employment law.