Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The Government sought to bring in contractors and minimum standards were not observed. If Dublin City Council can have an arrangement with contractors that requires compliance with minimum standards why can this not be applied in the rest of the economy? Instead, the Tánaiste went to Turkey and brought in a company that abused Turkish workers and the Government made a special arrangement with it not to pay any PRSI while they were here. Does the Taoiseach not appreciate that this matter goes wider than the issue of Irish Ferries as the Taoiseach claims? The unions concerned are concerned about non-invigilation of the construction industry where widespread abuse of workers' rights goes on. This is a far wider canvas than the Taoiseach seems to want to admit. With due respect to its craftsmanship, the Taoiseach's letter goes nowhere towards resolving the impasse that has been reached.

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