Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

The Minister indicated to me in December last that his Department had held bilateral discussions with relevant stakeholders regarding the implementation of the recommendations in the University of Limerick review. In December, the Minister of State with responsibility for labour affairs promised that the establishment of a JLC for domestic workers was being considered. Since then, there have been two reports, one from the Migrant Rights Centre, which documented cases of low pay, excessive working hours, unreasonable working conditions, illegal deductions and threatening deportation, among women engaged in domestic work here. An investigation by the Irish Independent found that some young women are being paid as little as €25 for a 14-hour day. It found that women who come here to work as nannies, carers and domestic workers end up "being treated as domestic slaves, working 14-hour days, for six days a week, sometimes for as little €1.75 an hour". In the context of that evidence, since the Minister gave me an assurance that the establishment of a system of protecting rights for this category of workers was being considered, will he now accept that it is time he implemented that recommendation, if such a recommendation exists? What is his view on the establishment of a JLC for domestic workers? In the interim, what steps will he take to protect from gross exploitation such vulnerable people who have come to our country?

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