Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This amendment was introduced in response to an amendment put forward by Deputy Peadar Tóibín on Report Stage in the Dáil. I indicated on Report Stage that I would afford further consideration to Deputy Tóibín's amendment and introduced amendment No. 57 in the Seanad to address the issues raised by the Deputy. The proposed amendment broadens the scope of the information that the workplace relations commission may disclose to a public contracting authority. As previously drafted, the section restricted the disclosure of information about non-compliance with employment legislation in relation only to the main contractor engaged by the public contracting authority. The amendment will extend the legislative basis for disclosure to include subcontractors. The extended provision will give greater scope to public contracting authorities to make effective use of the standard provisions in public works contracts to withhold payment or part payment of moneys if there is evidence of non-compliance with employment legislation by either a primary or secondary contractor engaged on the contract in question.

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