Migrant workers exploited by ‘crooked’ employment agencies

SIPTU president Jack O’Connor has claimed there are 520 licensed employment agencies operating in Ireland and an unknown number based offshore supplying the country’s labour market.

According to Industrial Relations News the SIPTU president told the annual general meeting of the union’s Bantry branch that the Central Statistics Office must start recording data on the workers so that any exploitation by the agencies can be tracked.

He said employment standards are being undermined through the re-casualisation of labour, as jobs are outsourced to employment agencies and bogus self-employment schemes.