Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

Last weekend Mr. Gerry Adams, at the Ard-Fheis, welcomed new communities of all nationalities to our country. We in Sinn Féin reject racism and discrimination in any form. It is good that many people are coming here to work. Immigrant workers are not the problem. The problem is unscrupulous employers who exploit immigrant workers for low pay and poor conditions along with the failure of this Government to protect the rights of all workers, whatever their nationality.

Local authorities are unwittingly contributing to this by giving contracts to contractors who sub-contract work to non-national workers who are being exploited and paid below the minimum wage, yet nothing is being done about this.

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