Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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32. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the employment rights issues raised by the industrial dispute in a company (details supplied) and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6290/18]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I want to raise the very serious case of the illegal super-exploitation of workers by a contractor, Kwik Structures. The contractor is involved in student accommodation at Grangegorman, Blackpitts and Boland's Mill, where the main contractor is BAM. I understand that Kwik Structures is due to start work at the national children's hospital site shortly - again, in conjunction with BAM. Kwik Structures is paying significantly below sectoral employment order, SEO, rates, is not providing workers with payslips and has not registered its workers with the construction workers' pension scheme.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. I am answering on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, who has responsibility in this area but who is away on a trade mission. My Department is unaware of any alleged dispute at the company referred to by the Deputy. Having made enquiries, it would appear that the issues in question have not been brought to the attention of the relevant industrial relations-employments rights bodies, that is, the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Labour Court. I can, therefore, only address the issues raised relating to the alleged breaches of employment law in a very general way.

In terms of the rates of payment agreed by the parties to the SEO for the construction sector that was adopted in law in October 2017, these apply to every worker of the class, type or group in the economic sector to which the order applies. Equally, the terms and conditions relating to any sick pay scheme or pension scheme set out under the SEO are applicable. This applies to the employers of workers regardless of whether the employer is an agency or a construction firm by virtue of section 6 of the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012.

In the event of a dispute as to the rates that should apply and to whom, the order sets out the dispute resolution procedure that applies. Essentially, this provides that in the first instance efforts should be made at local level to reach a resolution by giving notice in writing to the employer. Failing a resolution at this point, a complaint may be made to a WRC adjudication officer. In the case of an individual dispute, the outcome of the adjudication hearing can be appealed by either party to the Labour Court. In the case of a collective dispute, if the issue remains unresolved locally, it will be referred to the conciliation service of the WRC. If the issue remains unresolved after conciliation, it will be referred to the Labour Court for investigation and recommendation.

Regarding the other issue specifically referred to by the Deputy, it is the case that employees are entitled, in accordance with the Payment of Wages Act 1991, to receive payslips. In the event that an employee believes that his or her rights may have been contravened and would like to seek redress, the WRC is the appropriate body to contact as a first step. The WRC provides an information service on the obligations of employers and the employment rights of employees at its website www.workplacerelations.ie. It also operates a lo-call information line, on 1890 80 80 90, which provides information to both employers and employees. I would ask the Deputy to bring this information to the attention of the employees at the company in this instance and to encourage the employees at the company to avail of the extensive services provided by the WRC.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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The workers in question are now getting organised and taking all the appropriate action. The conditions they face are horrific and similar to those relating to slavery. The conditions in question are primarily focused on migrant workers. Previously, it appears to have primarily involved Polish workers but it now relates to Romanian workers. However, Irish workers are also exploited and stand in solidarity with their workmates. The workers are not receiving SEO rates. They are receiving flat rates that are significantly lower than SEO rates. They are not receiving payslips and have not received them over an extended period. There are other layers of exploitation on top of that. For example, workers have been pressured to rent at extortionate rates from a foreman and when they leave that accommodation, they are told that there is no more work for them. The situation is horrific. Will the Minister agree to talk to her colleagues and try to get a labour inspectorate team sent in to investigate the situation?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As I indicated earlier, I am not familiar with the details of this dispute but I encourage the employees to bring it to the attention of the WRC in the first instance. I ask them to make contact with the WRC because they have rights. This type of behaviour should not be happening and the WRC is there to deal with those kind of issues because we do not want to see any employee victimised or treated unfairly. I ask the Deputy to advise the workers to make contact with the WRC.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I think the workers will contact the WRC very shortly if they have not already done so. I draw attention to the fact that the company is due to start work on a publicly-funded project relating to the new national children's hospital. Obviously, if what I am saying is accurate, and I very much believe it is, it would be completely inappropriate for such exploitation to be happening. It is inappropriate for it to happen anywhere but particularly so with a publicly-funded project.

The other issue is that there appears to be quite widespread defrauding of Revenue as a way of bulking up the net pay the workers receive. The workers are given very large travel and subsistence allowances that are not subject to tax in order to increase their net pay but in an illegal fashion that may have resulted in a loss of millions of euro to Revenue in recent

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy that the exploitation of workers is wrong and should not be happening. I can only say that there is a very strong and robust system in place through the WRC. I strongly urge the workers to make contact with the commission.