A report by labour inspectors into a Turkish construction company accused of exploiting migrant workers is to be referred to the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners and other regulatory bodies, writes Chris Dooley, Industry and Employment Correspondent.
Announcing the move yesterday, Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin said investigations into the employment practices of Gama Construction were continuing.
There was good news for the company's workers when they were told that a Dutch bank is immediately to begin releasing to them millions of euro held in accounts in their names.
Mr Martin and the Irish Ambassador to the Netherlands, Richard Townsend, were both in direct contact yesterday with the bank concerned, Finansbank in Amsterdam.
Gama again denied claims by its Turkish workers that they were never told about the Finansbank accounts, into which a portion of their wages was paid.
Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins, who made public the existence of the accounts, has estimated they hold €30 million to €40 million belonging to current and former Gama employees.
In another development yesterday, it emerged that Tánaiste Mary Harney dismissed concerns about Gama's employment standards when she was minister for enterprise in 2003.
Letters obtained by The Irish Times show she told cabinet colleague Séamus Brennan, who raised the issue on behalf of a constituent, that allegations against Gama had been found to be "without substance".
A spokesman for Ms Harney said the complaint raised at the time had not been specific, and her reply was factually correct given that labour inspectors had investigated Gama and "hadn't revealed anything".
Complaints about Gama's practices were also raised with senior officials in Ms Harney's former department in 2002, but were categorically rejected.
The letters show that an Irish construction company told the department it could not compete with Gama's alleged pay rates of $5 an hour and was in danger of going out of business as a result. The department's then secretary general, Paul Haran, replied that Gama had fully co-operated with requests for documents and data and "there are now no further issues which we wish to pursue".
The company concerned declined to be named. Its managing director claimed he knew of two or three other construction firms which also complained about Gama to the department. "We were basically told to stop moaning and to go away," he said.
Gama began operating in Ireland in 2000 at the invitation of Ms Harney who at the time was seeking to ensure delivery of the National Development Plan. It has been involved in major construction projects including the Huntstown and Tynagh power stations and Ennis and Ballincollig bypasses, as well as local authority housing developments. The majority of its 1,000-odd workers in Ireland are from Turkey.
Labour inspectors began an investigation into the company after Mr Higgins accused it in the Dáil in February of making employees work "grotesque" hours at rates of €2 to €3 an hour.
The inspectors' report has been completed but the company has secured a temporary High Court injunction preventing Mr Martin from publishing it.
In an address to the Seanad yesterday, Mr Martin said the department had "robustly" submitted a case to the court seeking to have the injunction lifted. The matter is due to be heard again on Monday.
Mr Martin said he fully accepted and endorsed the recommendations of the report, which were addressed to a number of Government departments, the Revenue Commissioners, the Garda and "a range of regulatory bodies".
"It is my intention to forward the report to these bodies so as to enable them to look into the consequences arising."