Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are discussing an interesting topic. One of the frustrations that I had as a trade union official was that we had companies winning contracts to build schools that consistently disregarded Labour Court judgments and would not pay Labour Court judgments. When I brought this matter to the attention of Departments they basically said that there is a procurement process and there is nothing they could do. So the same company, which meted out horrendous abuse, particularly to foreign nationals in terms of the non-payment of wages, consistently won further contracts to build further schools. Such a situation is not good enough. One of the key criteria that we need to see the Government emphasise is respect for the industrial relations machinery of the State.