Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There is no point in the Minister’s reading off the rulebook for public contracts when it is not working. If it was, these workers would not be out for 11 weeks and would not be in here today.

The Minister mentioned self-declaration. That is an absolute joke. The basis on which Rhatigan is able to undercut other bidders for these contracts is by playing fast and loose with the relevant contracts tax, RCT 1 system and classifying as subcontractors people who are not. Unbelievably, 40,000 of those working in construction in this country are being classified as subcontractors, which they are not. This is a rampant abuse of the subcontracting system by principal contractors who can then say it is nothing to do with them, it is the subcontractor. The living proof of that is the workers in the Visitors Gallery who were asked by Rhatigan to start working in good faith without being paid for five weeks. When they looked for their money, one was paid and told he was the subcontractor for the rest of them when it was clear that he was not a subcontractor. He is here and will tell the Minister this. Is the Minister going to do something about this or will she just read off rulebooks that do not work?

Will the Minister do something about this or will she read off rules and rulebooks that do not work? The workers engaged with CAS, which was frustrated by Rhatigan. CAS cannot get to the bottom of the matter because it does not have any teeth, as Deputy Coppinger said. Where are the inspections? Where is the enforcement? Is there any will on the part of the Government to expose, stop and clamp down on this abuse of the RCT 1 system by these contractors? I hope the Minister can indicate that such a will exists, and that the Government will start by meeting these workers and listening to their concerns. It should stop paying Rhatigan while these most serious allegations are in the air.

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