Construction companies were accused in the Dáil of the "most cynical fraud" when Socialist Party TD, Mr Joe Higgins, claimed they were deducting pension money from workers' wages without putting them on the pension scheme.Construction companies were accused in the Dáil of the "most cynical fraud" when Socialist Party TD, Mr Joe Higgins, claimed they were deducting pension money from workers' wages without putting them on the pension scheme.
The Dublin west TD said that 30 construction workers had been killed since January last year and only eight were covered by pension schemes. He asked why the Government was allowing "such calculated abuse by a powerful industry".
But the Taoiseach said that if the Construction Industry Federation was in breach of pensions legislation, "the Pensions Board as regulator has total power to deal with these matters and implement the penalties right up to action being taken by the DPP".
Mr Higgins said there was "comprehensive evidence of the most cynical fraud, whereby companies, some of them large and prestigious", deducted the money without putting it into the schemes. "In other words, millionaire construction bosses are stealing from the hard-earned money of their employees."
This had the "most serious economic consequences for workers when they get sick or, in the case of premature death, for their families, apart from the emotional trauma".
Building workers' unions had highlighted "outrageous behaviour by a wide range of construction companies who have failed to put their workers on pension schemes".
He called for amending legislation to protect workers' rights because the current structures were ineffective. "We must force these often unscrupulous bosses to fulfil their responsibilities towards these workers."
Mr Ahern said, however, that the Pensions (Amendment) Act of 2002 "provides stringent regulations and penalties". The laws were "tough" and there was no need for additional legislation, he added.
