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

There is no dispute about the fact these workers have been abused. This is rife. The Minister’s predecessor was told about it and neither he nor she has dealt with it. The Minister waves CAS in front of me exactly as it was waved in front of me when I exposed the industrial-scale exploitation by GAMA Construction in 2005. Some of the same arguments were made about the tendering process and the best and lowest tenderer getting it. Why would GAMA not get it when it went on with massive exploitation of workers? It undercut all around it. No wonder Rhatigan can do the same with these outrageous tactics, forcing workers into a situation of bogus subcontracting to deny them their proper wages, pension rights and security.

When the Minister replies, I do not want to hear about a meeting with construction workers unions. The Minister can meet the workers here and now. They will tell her to stop the payments to Rhatigan on this site and have a meeting in the next two days, during which the truth can be established. That would sort it out.

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