Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The nub of the problem is that a payslip can say one thing while the reality may be different. What, specifically, will the Minister of State do to amend this? Is there a legal difficulty in terms of access to bank account details which are the only real way to verify the actual payment made? How does the Minister of State intend to overcome the difficulty created where an employer makes deductions for accommodation or other expenses related to the work?

It is clear we all agree there is a problem because the employment rights group and the partnership process are focusing attention on this issue. What specific solutions has the Minister of State for the problem? If we take the example of the situation at Moneypoint, the ESB was unable to ascertain what was going on, despite the fact it had audits. It was not the arrival of the labour inspectorate that started the review process. The company and the main contractor had attempted to ascertain what was going on but were unable to do so because of the difficulty in getting accurate information.

This is a central issue for the partnership talks and in ensuring that migration and the arrival of accession workers here do not distort the labour market in an unfair way. What can the Minister of State do to ensure we have the powers to know who is paid what and whether fair deductions take place?

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