Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the investigation by the labour inspectorate into allegations of serious irregularities in the treatment of employees of the Turkish company, Gama, which has been operating here; if all workers have now been given access to money held in accounts in a bank in Holland; if the Garda has been requested to conduct an investigation into allegations that money had been diverted into accounts to which the workers previously had no access; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25420/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Allegations of non-compliance with labour legislation in respect of a major construction firm were raised in this House on 8 February last by Deputy Joe Higgins. Those allegations were that certain non-national construction workers were required to work excessive hours and that such workers were in receipt of pay of between €2 and €3 per hour in contravention of the statutory minimums applicable.

The labour inspectorate of my Department undertook an investigation of these allegations. That investigation was completed within six weeks and required the exclusive attention of three labour inspectors under the direction of two senior members of staff. A report on the investigation was prepared and circulated to relevant parties, including the construction firm involved. Subsequently, the Department was informed that the firm proposed seeking a judicial review with regard to the investigation and inspector's report.

At an interlocutory hearing a judgment was given whereby the Department was restrained from publication of the inspector's report but permitted to forward the document to relevant prosecutorial bodies. On foot of this outcome, a copy of the inspector's report was sent to the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the Revenue Commissioners, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Competition Authority, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Garda Commissioner.

The inspector's report was quashed in the judgment that followed the full High Court hearing of the case. That decision is being appealed to the Supreme Court. I am unable, accordingly, to elaborate any further on the content of the inspector's report or offer any observations on the actions that the prosecutorial bodies mentioned may be considering.

I was concerned that all Turkish workers would have access to the money that had been transferred to their bank accounts in Finansbank in Amsterdam. To that end, I and my officials met senior management from Gama Turkey and Gama Ireland, the legal advisers to Gama Turkey, and a human resources consultant retained by Gama. At that meeting I was assured by these senior managers, their legal adviser and the human resources consultant that all Gama workers in Ireland, past and present, would have full access to the money that had been transferred to their bank accounts in Finansbank.

I contacted the President of Finansbank. He assured me that, provided the consent of the workers was forthcoming, his bank would co-operate in ensuring that my officials would have sight of relevant bank records in his bank so that they could be satisfied that all workers would have access to the money in their bank accounts. Officials from my Department travelled to Finansbank on 14 April last. Following these meetings and contacts which my officials had with SIPTU and Deputy Joe Higgins, I am satisfied that a substantial number of Turkish workers who were in Ireland around last April received value for the funds that had been transferred to their personal bank accounts in Finansbank.

On 29 April, my Department sought in writing certain details on each current and former Gama employee, including the money transferred to Finansbank and the money transferred from Finansbank to their personal bank account in Isbank in Turkey. Despite reminders, this information has not been supplied to date. Accordingly, I cannot assure the Deputy that all Gama workers in Ireland, both past and present, have received value for the amounts that were transferred into their personal accounts in Finansbank.

In the meantime, there have been ongoing contacts between officials of my Department and the company. Matters were brought before the Labour Relations Commission and then the Labour Court. Arising from these actions, substantial transfers of money were secured for workers in lieu of overtime worked. In addition, certain professional Gama workers, in respect of whom transfers were not made into Dutch bank accounts, were also awarded sums of money by the Labour Court. Many of these Turkish workers have now returned home.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for the fairly comprehensive response. First, will he indicate if he has worked out the exact statutory entitlement of each Gama worker so that when he hears from Finansbank in due course, he will be able to validate that each of them has received the full entitlement?

Second, have the tendering procedures that allowed this breach of law to occur been tightened up subsequent to the revelations relating to this issue? Are new tendering procedures for public contracts now in place?

Third, given that three labour inspectors worked full-time on the case for the duration of the investigation, we now have just 16.5 manpower equivalent people involved in labour inspection in Ireland, which is the equivalent of one inspector per 117,000 workers. Is that the current position and, if so, does the Minister agree it is unacceptable?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In regard to the details pertaining to each worker, our officials, in particular our labour inspectors, worked hard to secure as many personal details as possible about each worker. They contacted SIPTU and Deputy Joe Higgins for names and so on. We also worked out formulae regarding workers' entitlements for previous and current work and overtime. The overtime issue was ultimately dealt with by the Labour Court. We had further meetings with SIPTU and the indications are that the retrospective element is no longer an issue. We used the recognised REA rate, which the company is legally obliged to pay.

I can only refer to the tendering procedures in general. When people or companies tender, one expects the information contained in the tender to be truthful and transparent.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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With full compliance with our labour law as part of the contract.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We cannot attempt to prejudice a tender on notions we have based on experience or occurrences. I do not control the tendering process. Companies present the REA rates and so on as part of the tender submission. The key issue is that, on winning a contract, the company should do what the tender document says. Trust and observance of the law are also important issues in this regard.

With regard to the labour inspectorate, the current staff levels are not acceptable going forward and I sanctioned an additional ten posts. We are drafting proposals for a medium-term expansion of the inspectorate.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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To how many?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will not outline specifics. We are working on proposals. We want to recruit the additional ten inspectors and the recruitment and training process is almost complete. The intention is to concentrate on the issue of migrant labour.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Does the Minister accept there is a perception that rogue companies such as Gama and Irish Ferries can trample all over the rights of workers and that the Government is particularly weak in tackling such companies?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We could not be described as weak regarding how we tackled the Gama issue. I do not say I subscribe to the Deputy's terminology regarding the companies as I do not want to be found in breach of a court order.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It is patently true anyway.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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When the Gama issue was presented to us, we acted resolutely. Up to €25 million was returned to the bank accounts of workers, which is a substantial amount by any benchmark. The recognised rate increased significantly and the blockage regarding the recognised agreed rate of pay in the construction sector caused by one union objecting to the modus operandi was substantially addressed. We achieved a good result in that case.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Belatedly.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Joe Higgins and others deserve credit for that.