Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We need to be clear that what we are talking about is money being robbed from people. The sanction on the employer should be stronger. I appreciate there is an opportunity to revisit it. I am not saying that it would be worth an employer's while to break the law in this regard. I do not think people necessarily set out to do that. However, in the past decade the WRC has recovered €18 million in what it referred to as "unpaid wages" but all present know it is money that was robbed from workers. We know there are issues in respect of workers getting what they are entitled to in terms of what could be called wages, never mind what is in that grey area of tips. A stronger fine would send a much stronger message to an employer that this is not worth the risk.

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