Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is very important - I am sure this will be reflected by those with whom the Minister of State consults - that we make the correct policy choices, and in so far as adherence to labour law and the rights of workers are concerned, they need to be watertight and robust.

JJ Rhatigan and Company has approximately 50% of school building contracts at construction stage awarded by the Department of Education and Skills. As the Minister of State knows, Unite is in dispute with JJ Rhatigan over the treatment of its members on the site at Kishogue Community College in Lucan. Following a ballot, the workers unanimously decided on industrial action, which commenced on 19 September. They will be in court tomorrow fighting an injunction.

JJ Rhatigan operates a complex system of subcontracting under which workers on these public capital contracts have been forced into bogus self-employment with no PRSI, holiday, pension or other entitlements. These workers are effectively earning less than €5 an hour. They have been locked out since 1 September. I know there are obvious limits in what the Minister of State can say and I am not asking him to stray beyond that. However, I ask him to respond as he can to this situation and to make it very clear for those workers and anybody else being exploited in this way that he is aware of the phenomenon and is determined, as I hope we all are, to stamp out these practices. I hope that workers enjoy the Minister of State's support as they try to deal with these exploitative situations.

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