Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 401: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the nature of the communications between his Department and the plasterers' union referred to in the two page report from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment into allegations against GAMA construction in October 2003. [19012/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The document referred to was not, and did not purport to be, a report on the company named. It constituted a response to an issue raised in a constituency clinic of the then Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The response mentioned an exercise undertaken by the Department in the period 2001 to 2002, intended to ensure compliance with the registered employment agreement for the sector in question.

As part of its brief, the economic migration policy unit of the Department kept in touch with a range of labour market participants to ensure that policy was fully informed by the changing realities of the labour market. Such contacts included union and employer interests. On the occasion referred to one of the Department's concerns was to clarify if there was, in fact, an inter-union dispute in progress and a number of the Department's contacts were asked if the Department's understanding was correct in this regard.