Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Spring for raising this important matter.

It is a condition of the public works contracts that contractors must comply with the relevant regulations governing employment conditions. The most recent legislation in this area includes the Registered Employment Agreement (Construction Industry Wages and Conditions of Employment) Variation Order, 2011, and the Registered Employment Agreement (Construction Industry Pensions Assurance and Sick Pay) Variation Order (No. 2), 2006. The one exception, as referred to by the Deputy, is in regard to the registered agreement for pensions where a firm registered in another member state and working in this country has employees temporarily posted from that other jurisdiction and who subscribe to a national pension scheme in their own country. In such circumstances, the firm, or its employees, does not have to subscribe to the Irish pension scheme.

The National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, which has responsibility for monitoring employment conditions through its inspection services and which can enforce employment rights compliance and seek redress, comes under the aegis of my colleague the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, who has responsibility therefor. Where there is evidence that firms may not be complying with regard to relevant statutory pay and conditions of employment, the matter can be referred to the NERA for investigation.

There are a number of provisions set out in the public works contracts to ensure compliance with the registered employment agreements and they are covered by a clause entitled "Pay and Conditions of Employment". The main contractor is obliged to display a copy of the relevant clause from the public works contract covering the pay and conditions of employment in a prominent place on the site for the benefit of all those employed on the project. The main contractor is also required to provide a certificate of compliance, entitled "Rates of Pay and Conditions of Employment Certificate", with each interim statement submitted, normally on a monthly basis. Failure to provide this compliance certificate will result in payment not being made by the contracting authority.

If a main contractor provides a certificate of compliance and it is subsequently found to be untrue or partly untrue, the contracting authority has the right to deduct the money relating to the work or part of the work covered by the certificate from any sums due to the main contractor. This money can be withheld until the pay and conditions of employment issue is made right. The ultimate sanction if a main contractor continues to be non-compliant is for the main contract to be terminated.

The public works contracts also oblige a contractor to maintain records of pay, timesheets and any deductions made for all those employed on the site. These records are subject to inspections by representatives of the contracting authority, as required. The conditions of the public works contracts, therefore, place an obligation on the main contractor to ensure compliance with the registered employment agreements for all those employed on the construction site, and this is not limited to their own employees but also applies to all sub-contractors who provide labour to the site. Contracting authorities are required to ensure that the "Rates of Pay and Conditions of Employment Certificate" is received with each payment application and, in the event of non-compliance, to withhold payment until the matter is rectified.

If there is evidence that contractors employed on public works contracts are not complying with the payment requirements of the registered employment agreements, this should, in the first instance, be brought to the attention of the contracting authority, which can investigate the matter fully under the mechanisms set out in the contract and outlined previously. Where members of the Road Safety Marking Contractors Association are making these claims, they should in the first instance make their complaints to the contracting authority, whether the roads authority, a local authority, or a group of local authorities, as in this case. I will take a close interest in the outcome of any resulting investigation. However, a complaint must be made in the first instance as, otherwise, there is no procedure through which we can investigate the matter and come to some determination. Where there is a case to be answered, the contracting authority may then take the remedies set out in the contract for a breach of the clause on pay and conditions of employment and refer the matter to the National Employments Rights Authority.

The Deputy has put very important information on the record of the House. The responsibility now rests on the Road Safety Marking Contractors Association to make complaints to the authorities. I will investigate those complaints closely.

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