Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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193. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will set out the contractors' pay and conditions of employment clause attached to public works contracts; if these conditions are applicable to subcontractors employed by the main contractor with whom the Government Department or State agency is contracted by. [49621/14]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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194. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide details of the enforcement procedures the Office of Government Procurement pursues when breaches of the pay and conditions of employment clause attached to public works contracts are reported; the mechanism the OGP employ to ensure that full compliance of these conditions are attached to such contracts. [49622/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 193 and 194 together.

Clause 5.3 of the public works contracts titled Pay and Conditions of Employment contains provisions which apply to all workers engaged on the site, regardless of whether they are employed by the contractor or their subcontractors.

This clause requires the main contractor to observe, in relation to the employment of all workers on the Site, the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and all applicable employment law.

The main contractor is obliged to display a copy of the Pay and Conditions of Employment clause from the contract in a prominent place on the site for the benefit of all those employed on the project.

At each interim payment stage (normally on a monthly basis) the main contractor must provide a certificate of compliance (titled Rates of Pay and Conditions of Employment Certificate ) stating that they have complied in full with the requirements of clause 5.3. Failure to provide this compliance certificate will result in payment not being made by the contracting authority. If a main contractor provides a certificate of compliance that is subsequently found to be untrue or partly untrue the contracting authority has the right to deduct the money relating to the work or part of the work covered by the certificate from any sums due to the main contractor. This money can be withheld until the pay and conditions of employment issue is made right. The ultimate sanction if a main contractor continues to be non-compliant is for the main contract to be terminated.

The public works contracts also oblige a contractor to maintain records of pay, timesheets and any deductions made on behalf of all those employed on the site.  It requires a contractor to ensure that all deductions from payments to workers required by law are paid on to the relevant authorities/bodies.  These records are subject to inspection by representatives of the contracting authority as required.

The management of the tendering process for a public contract and the administration of the contract once awarded is a matter for each contracting authority.

Whilst non-compliance with clause 5.3 carries the contractual remedy of non-payment or the deduction of sums that are legally due to employees or State authorities, contracting authorities should also report such matters to the relevant enforcement authorities.

Enforcement of employment law and health and safety are matters for my colleague the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.  The National Employment Rights Authority has the necessary powers to compel employers to provide the documentary evidence to establish whether they may have breached employment law and the Health and Safety Authority has similar powers to deal with breaches of health and safety legislation.