Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for labour affairs for his frank and honest response to my question, unlike his predecessor. We have a problem here. For people coming to this country in the hope of a better life, as so many Irish people did when they went abroad in the past, the Celtic tiger has become the Celtic predator. It is now beyond any reasonable doubt that the entire mushroom industry needs to be seriously investigated. That is not to say that every mushroom producer is breaking the law, but there is now enough public information to suggest that this is a crisis sector that requires a crisis response.

What action does the Minister of State propose to take, for example, as regards the cases I cited to him, where there were two registered breaches of unemployment law? One can presume, on the basis, for example, of a case in Carrickaboy, as reported in The Anglo-Celt, where 13 foreign national mushroom pickers were employed, that they were unfairly dismissed because they were, in effect, employees and not contractors.

What action does the Minister of State propose to take because this is a sector that needs to be dealt with collectively, in tandem with the Department of Agriculture and Food, where this is relevant? That would send a signal to other rogue employers and sectors which are difficult to inspect and monitor, given the limited force of the Department's current inspectorate.

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