Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Advance Pitstop had a cohort of interns who finished in the summer of last year. Having taken a cooling off period of six months, the company has now returned to the market seeking another 28 interns. If the Minister had not facilitated the exploitation of young workers through this cheap labour scheme, Advance Pitstop would have been obliged to hire workers at real rates of pay. The scheme is displacement and substitution of the worst kind and the Minister is facilitating this gross abuse of young workers.

The Minister did not comment on people with doctorates being enticed to work for €50 per week. She should get real and address this issue of gross exploitation. If, however, she chooses to continue with this scheme, she should remove the word "Labour" from her party's banner because exploitation of this nature is a disgrace and utter insult to the founders of the labour movement.

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