Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are all well aware about what has happened with the Sammon Group and Carillion Group in the UK, and the devastation this has caused to schools in places such as Kells, Bray and Wexford. Behind that story, there are families. One such family company is that of Bobby O'Farrell & Sons, established in Thurles in 1989, and dozens of other small companies, often family-owned, which worked as subcontractors and are not being paid. They are owed huge sums of money, which leaves them unable to pay their suppliers. These are excellent trading companies that employ people, in this case since 1989, and there are many such other companies in Tipperary.

We spent years here trying to have the Construction Contracts Act introduced but has it been enacted at all or does it offer any protection for subcontractors? They are the backbone of our economy. They pay the bills and employ people locally and they are the ones that deliver the projects. These big companies could never deliver the projects without the support of these small companies in Tipperary and all over the country.

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