Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Let us recall the Younis case. Mr. Younis was forced to work a 77 hour week with no days off. He was forced to live in cramped, substandard conditions and brought his case to the Labour Court which awarded him €92,000. The employer appealed the award to the High Court which overturned the decision on the basis that as an undocumented migrant worker, Mr. Younis was not allowed to go to the Labour Court. The matter is before the Supreme Court. There are 24,000 people in the economy who are exposed on foot of the High Court judgment.

The initial promise to publish the new legislation to remove the loophole was made last year. None of us wants the situation to continue. One year later we are still at the drafting stage. I acknowledge that the NIRA has stepped up its work in the area considerably. It is working very closely with the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland on some of the worst cases. While the NIRA can bring prosecutions, there is little it can do to provide recourse and compensation for those whose employment and human rights are being trampled on because of this legal lacuna. Can some timeline be provided for the legislation? Obviously, we will not have it by the end of the session. Will we have it early in the next session to allow us to address the issue once and for all?

See this speech in context