Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I welcomed the appointment of the Minister of State not so long ago, but I am afraid he has reverted to Department speak very quickly after his appointment. I ask him to address the questions asked in my priority question. Is it not a fact, and will the Minister not acknowledge, that the labour inspectorate in this internal review stated that it was prevented from properly policing the minimum wage and other employment rights? Is that not a vindication of a position I have taken over many months with him and his Department? Is it not now the case that there is an unanswerable case for a significant increase in the number of labour inspectors? When will we see those labour inspectors on the ground? Is it not a fact also that in the review the Minister acknowledges exists the labour inspectors said they had seldom if ever had their full complement of 21 available to them? Is it not almost a scandal that in a workforce now in excess of 2 million, 21 people, even if all were on active duty at any given time, are expected to enforce an increasingly complicated labour market with increasingly complicated labour laws? Is it not a fact that the dereliction of the Department in providing adequate policing has led directly to the climate of tolerance of exploitation we have witnessed recently?

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