Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I knew he appointed additional inspectors. I thought the figure was 20. I accept those numbers.

I accept the labour inspectorate must be vigilant in this area. The inspectorate deals with complaints from the public, the trade union movement and from employees. It is always looking for additional staff and resources but it is still a good unit. In the case of Gama, as soon as it was brought to its attention, it did a very good job, which the Opposition has admitted in this House. If Deputy Rabbitte's numbers are right, the number of inspectors has increased by one third. Given the constraints in regard to numbers in the section, that is not a bad increase in one go.

In regard to Gama, the Labour Relations Commission has completed talks with SIPTU and it is to be hoped that issue will resolve itself, although I think it might take some time to work itself through. However, there is a need to be vigilant. I got a briefing note when the Gama issue arose which said there were other areas where there were abuses, but the number was not enormous. We saw this issue arise in the meat processing and other sectors in recent years. It seems to be a sectoral issue. Fortunately, it does not seem to arise in all areas. However, with such high numbers of people working in many sectors, be they EU nationals, non-EU nationals or from the Chinese community, there is a need to be vigilant. Some work legally and others illegally but whatever the case, we have an obligation to attempt to monitor their treatment, which is the inspectorate's function.

As far as the Department with responsibility for labour is concerned, there are two ways of looking at the question. When I was over that Department, many, including the trade union movement, argued that many relevant sectors were not the responsibility of the Department of Labour but of the old Department of employment, or trade and employment.

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