Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 414: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of inspections of building sites in the past 12 months to check the extent to which the employment of non-national workers conforms with all legal obligations; the number of incidents of non-compliance which have been identified; the nature of these incidents; and if he has satisfied himself that the level of inspection being undertaken is adequate. [19309/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The labour inspectorate of my Department is responsible for monitoring certain employment conditions for all categories of workers in Ireland, including immigrant workers. The inspectorate operates without making any differentiation to worker nationality as statutory employment rights and protections apply to immigrant workers in exactly the same manner as they do to native Irish workers.

The wages and employment conditions of workers employed in the construction industry are governed by the Registered Employment Agreement (Construction Industry Wages and Conditions of Employment) Variation Order which is enforced by the labour inspectorate of my Department. The inspectorate carried out 28 inspections or visits under this agreement during the period from June 2004 to May 2005. Breaches of the agreement were detected in five cases. The breaches in these instances related primarily to failure to pay the statutory minimum rate of pay required under the agreement.

In April this year the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment announced the provision of an additional ten labour inspectors and a team leader to the labour inspectorate whose primary task will be to focus on sectors where there are concentrations of migrant workers. The additional resources will enable the inspectorate to undertake more inspections in these sectors, including the construction sector.

Entitlements to sick pay and pensions for employees in the construction industry are governed by the Registered Employment Agreement (Construction Industry Pensions Assurance and Sick Pay) Variation Order. My Department has no direct role under this agreement in the day-to-day operation of the pension scheme which is administered by the Construction Industry Federation. There is provision in the agreement for a trade union representative of employees or workers to complain to the Labour Court where an employer is alleged to have failed to comply with the agreement. In pursuing the matter the Labour Court can be assisted by the labour inspectorate. Acting on specific information from the Labour Court, the employment records of an employer are examined by an inspector and any relevant information gathered is relayed to the Labour Court. During the past 12 months the inspectorate processed 106 such requests for inspection from the Labour Court.