Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I asked the Taoiseach about the Iceland workers earlier and he agreed with me the workers should be paid what they were owed and should go to the WRC to achieve that. The problem, as the Taoiseach knows, is that is not a simple or quick process. The State treats wage theft differently than it does other forms of theft. If I go into an Iceland store tomorrow and walk out with a frozen pizza I have not paid for, the store can call the Garda and I can be arrested and prosecuted. That option is not open to the workers. They cannot call the Garda and say they have not got paid the money they are owed, which is tens of thousands of euro, and say they want the owner arrested. That is a fundamental problem. Instead, the workers are forced to go down the WRC route. The commission is underpowered and under-resourced. There are now only slightly more labour inspectors in the country than dog wardens. It is completely unacceptable.

I have two questions. Will the Taoiseach set up a special unit to pursue the wage-theft issue and ensure workers are not ripped off in this way? Does he agree wage theft should be criminalised in the same way other theft is?

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