Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

Fine Gael endorses the call for legislation to regulate employment agencies and supports this particular motion, subject to the reservations outlined by my colleague, Deputy Varadkar. I accept that it is not just migrants who are employed as agency workers and that not all agency workers are being exploited. Many nurses, for example, leave HSE jobs to take up agency work because the salaries are significantly better. However, people can be exploited and those from foreign countries are more vulnerable to exploitation. They do not know their basic entitlements or lack the necessary language skills and are afraid to ask questions in case they lose their jobs and are sent home.

I visited the website of the National Employment Rights Authority to find out the information available from it in foreign languages. It makes information available in a range of languages, including Chinese, Czech, Polish, French and Irish, but it is not very detailed. Much more needs to be done if we are to properly police this area or ensure migrant workers are given their fair entitlements and can access the basic information they need. This is further frustrated by the limitation on access to benefits and services for persons who are unlawfully present in the State under the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008. Section 6 of that Bill seeks to limit access to services such as the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Equality Tribunal. Access must not be limited on the basis of a person's residency status.

Last night the Minister made the excuse that he was going to await the commencement of the partnership talks and use this issue as a bargaining tool but he has already broken commitments he made in Towards 2016. The Government set a target in the partnership agreement to employ 90 labour inspectors by 31 December 2007 to address employment abuses and the underpayment of workers but the National Employment Rights Authority employed just 50 labour inspectors on that date. It will be summer before the rest of the staff conduct inspections. It is a damning indictment of this Government's lack of commitment to the issue of labour exploitation that 1,500 fewer inspections were carried out in 2007.

It is important for both Irish people and immigrants that the law is not abused and that immigrants are given the same entitlements as Irish citizens. There have been countless examples in the construction industry of Irish workers who were replaced by migrant workers at much lower rates. Some stories, such as the treatment of Gama construction workers from Turkey and the Polish workers at the ESB station in Moneypoint, County Clare, have hit national prominence. However, under the proposed EU directive providing for sanctions against employers of illegally remaining third country nationals, both the contractor and subcontractor are held jointly liable for the exploitation of workers. The procedure will start with the person who directly employed them and will then continue up along the line. The present loophole in the legislation must be closed off. Currently, a contractor who does not directly employ a worker can wash his or her hands of the situation by claiming the subcontractor employed the exploited individual at below the minimum wage or failed to pay PRSI or proper tax. In the vast majority of such cases the main contractor knew from the outset the subcontractor could deliver the contract at the price offered without exploiting labour.

It is critical that migrant workers are given legal rights and that their employers do not undercut Irish workers because a dangerous level of resentment is developing which must be stamped out. The only way that resentment can be effectively eradicated is ensuring the labour inspectorate takes aggressive action by prosecuting directors of such companies. Notwithstanding the many reputable companies who employ both Irish and migrant employees and abide by our employment laws and wage rates, those who abuse the system must be weeded out. Unless this problem is addressed, reputable companies will go out of business because they are being undercut by the cowboys within the system. I commend the motion to the House.

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