Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the comments made by Deputies Tóibín and Kelleher. There has been a great deal of abuse of our employment laws in the past ten to 15 years. The State must play a stronger role in terms of ensuring there will be no recurrence of many of the things which happened during that period. A current example in this regard is that some workers employed by J.J. Rhatigan appear to have been paid in the region of €5 per hour. There has been a serious problem within the construction industry for a number of years whereby main contractors take on subcontractors - or subbies - who are not obliged to pay tax until the end of the financial year. Some of these subcontractors come from outside the State and, as a result, they do not pay tax at all. They form companies and they are actually able to get away with doing so for approximately 18 months before they are caught. When they are caught, they scrap the companies. As a result of the fact that subcontractors do not pay the 35% for which they are liable, they are in a position to quote very low prices for work. It has become increasingly difficult for people in the Republic to obtain work directly on building sites because subcontractors who are based outside the State - generally in Northern Ireland - are in a position to provide lower quotes for work. This type of behaviour has been going on for many years and neither this Government nor that which preceded it have taken action. This is a glaring problem and this type of behaviour undermines the rights of workers in this State.

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