The High Court has allowed limited release to a number of parties, including the Garda Fraud Squad, the Revenue and the DPP, of the findings of an investigation by a Government labour inspectorate into allegations regarding the treatment of Turkish workers in Ireland by construction company Gama.
+Among the allegations against the company was that it systematically underpaid workers and that they worked up to 80-hour weeks.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday granted a limited injunction to Gama Industri Tesisleri Imalat Montag AS and Gama Construction Ireland Ltd restraining general publication of the report pending the outcome of proceedings, fixed for hearing next Tuesday week, in which both companies are contesting the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment's entitlement to direct an investigation into the allegations against them.
However, the judge said, he would place no obstacle to the Garda Fraud Squad being apprised of the report along with the Competition Authority, the Revenue Commissioners, the director of Corporate Enforcement and the Garda National Immigration Bureau. The judge also said he would not inhibit the sending of the report to the DPP or to any entity of the State which has a prosecutorial role.
In addition he would not impede the labour inspectorate from taking action arising from admissions of wrongdoing contained in the report.
He was satisfied as to the urgency of securing a trial of proceedings between Gama and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and said he had fixed the trial for hearing on Tuesday next.
Giving his reasons for finding that the report should not be published to the public, the judge said he was satisfied that the damage which would be suffered by the company if the report was published generally could be extremely damaging to Gama.
It had been submitted that Gama was not entitled to equitable relief, he noted. However, although there were "disquieting elements" as to the behaviour of Gama, he was not satisfied they were guilty of such wrongdoing or non-disclosure as to disentitle them to relief. He was therefore going to grant a limited form of injunction and he was granting it for the shortest possible time.
Earlier in the proceedings Donal O'Donnell SC, for Gama Construction Ireland, said the Minister's inspectors had powers to prosecute but publication of the inspectors' report in advance could prejudice any prosecution.
Maurice Collins SC, for the Minister, said Edward Nolan, head of the labour inspectorate of the Department of Enterprise, did not accept Gama's suggestion that deductions from workers' pay was done with their consent.
Mr Collins said the authorising forms were in English and had been signed without any understanding of what was involved.
He also said the company had failed in affidavits to address claims concerning accounts held in the names of workers in a Dutch bank.