Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

One of the issues that attracted a great deal of attention in this House in recent months was the crisis at Kishoge Community College, which involved a State contract awarded to a private developer. Individuals working at that site were forced into subcontracting status and there was wholesale abuse of the relevant contracts tax, RCT, system. When those workers totted up their wages at the end of the week and the number of hours they had done, they found they were being paid €5 per hour. When we on this side of the House made efforts to have the matter investigated, we were met with a pass-the-parcel response from the Government, the answer always being that it was some other Minister's responsibility. Investigations into what happened were carried out by a number of State agencies, but they were hampered by a lack of resources and no justice was delivered to the individuals concerned. In the end, the issue was referred to the courts. That is the result one gets when there is not a fair balance between workers' rights and employers' rights.

I previously asked the Minister a question, the answer to which would be helpful in considering the need for the amendments I have tabled. What are the compliance levels in these sectors?

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