Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise this question because of a series of experiences that have been relayed to me by workers active in the construction sector. These people have been puzzled, to say the least, by two related phenomena in the sector. The first is that a number of employers declare they cannot fund redundancy payments, leaving the workers to pursue their statutory entitlements via the Social Insurance Fund. This situation creates a number of problems for the workers in question. For starters, they lose their right to notice, leaving them short between one and eight weeks' pay, which is a significant loss. Second, they have to wait for payment for months, sometimes up to one year if they are taking cases through the Workplace Relations Commission to recover their redundancy entitlements. A huge amount of stress and worry is involved for those workers.

What has been even more frustrating is the regular sight of companies that declared they were unable to pay redundancy not only continuing to trade but actually winning public contracts for more work. It seems bizarre that this practice could happen. It appears, I regret to say, to be a regular feature of the construction sector.

I want to give the Minister of State a couple of examples in this regard. As one of the company names is actually the name of an individual, I will not mention the name out of respect for the rules of the Chamber, but I can supply the Minister of State with the name of the company afterwards. This medium-size contractor let workers go, declaring it could not fund redundancies, and left the workers to recoup moneys via the taxpayer and the Social Insurance Fund. However, the company continued to trade, it won a contract to build the public swimming pool at Nenagh, County Tipperary, and it has since won substantial public contracts at Athlone Castle and with the Department of Education and Skills - a current €8 million project at Ballyhaunis community school has been given to this company. It seems baffling that a company that declares it has no money to pay redundancy continues to win public contracts.

Another company, an agency specialising in contract labour, has regularly laid off workers and declared it has no funds to pay redundancy. The same agency continues to trade and continues to be a major supplier to a wide range of public contracts. Interestingly, when trade unions are taking cases for redundancy to what was the Rights Commissioner Service, now the Workplace Relations Commission, the labour agency would not even bother to turn up. The union would win the case and apply directly for payment to the Social Insurance Fund.

This begs the question of whether the Department of Social Protection is pursuing these moneys. Can the Minister of State explain how such companies can continue to tender for and win public contracts? I note from a report in the Irish Independent that the Department of Social Protection has written off more than €100 million of PRSI debt owed by thousands of firms. The same report tells us that the total debt pile owed by 13,600 companies has soared to nearly €500 million, and that just 10% of this debt is deemed recoverable. The report goes on to say the Department seeks recovery of debt directly from employers who continue to trade after getting into difficulty. I have a real concern that the Department may not have been relaying information about companies in debt to the Social Insurance Fund to other Government Departments. The examples I am citing are clear proof that something fundamental is wrong here. I wonder whether the examples I am quoting are just the tip of the iceberg.