THE arrest yesterday of a man in connection with human trafficking in Co Donegal is a sign that the problem may be far greater here than many of us ever suspected.

Workers who were exploited by their employers missed out on almost €900,000 in wages last year, according to an employment rights watchdog.

The incoming general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has identified fair pay and conditions, collective bargaining and respect for workers as the three principles which will govern her tenure.

Four major school building projects have been examined this year for the Department of Education or by other state agencies over complaints about employment irregularities.

The Department of Education has been asked to beef up its monitoring of compliance with employment law and wage agreements as another school building project faces industrial action.

The number of court prosecutions taken by the National Employment Rights Authority against businesses increased by 20% to 84 last year. 

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has agreed to examine claims that construction firms are encouraging welfare fraud and underpaying workers on State building projects.

The Government has been accused of "failing" domestic workers falling prey to exploitation by not ratifying laws aimed at securing their rights.

More than half of school and college building sites where pay matters have been investigated for the Department of Education have been referred on to tax, social welfare and other authorities.

More than €80m has been collected by a dedicated Revenue operation targeting the black economy.

A celebrity was looked up more than 80 times on the internal garda database, it has emerged.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal has warned the Government its proposed one-stop-shop for workplace dispute resolution could lead to subjective and ill-informed judgments which may not be fair to employee or employer.

WE HAVE five state bodies overseeing disputes in the workplace — but yet cases take up to two years to get a hearing.

Almost €2m in unpaid wages was recovered from employers following a probe by the National Employment Rights Authority last year.

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has announced a number of developments in the areas of employment rights and industrial relations, in line with promised reforms.

THE number of enforcement applications made to the employment rights watchdog has exploded in the past year as it chases firms for larger financial awards owed to employees.

ELECTRICIANS and their employers could be on a collision course once more after one of the biggest employer bodies withdrew from discussions on a new pay deal for the industry.

WORKERS will be entitled to take employment cases to the labour court without using state agencies, labour inspectors or lawyers under plans to end the “haphazard” system in operation at the moment.

Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton is today proposing the amalgamation of the five employment rights bodies.

THE bitter Coalition wrangle over Fine Gael’s bid to overhaul wage safeguards for the low paid appeared to end in a setback for Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton last night.

A CRACKDOWN on fraudulent social welfare claims yielded almost half a billion euro in savings to the state last year, it has emerged.

SEVERAL pieces of key employment legislation, long sought by trade unions, have been stalled by the collapse of the last Government and the resultant general election.

WORKERS unable to attend work because of the weather are not legally entitled to be paid by their employers, according to the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA).

ALMOST every industrial sector has seen a marked decline in the level of compliance with minimum wage and employment rights over the last year, new figures released by the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) show.

THE number of tip-offs to the Department of Social Protection about welfare cheats has doubled in the past year.

THE International Transport Federation has lodged a formal complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission over RTÉ’s Skippers programme.

LESS than one-in-five hotels and grocery outlets is paying staff agreed minimum rates of pay, according to the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA).

TOURISM interests including Fáilte Ireland and the Irish Hotels Federation have warned that the continuing operation of so-called “zombie” hotels was placing many businesses and jobs in the sector in jeopardy.

INFORMATION Commissioner and Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has criticised the removal of key functions of several state bodies from the scope of Freedom of Information legislation.

THOUSANDS of holidaymakers stranded abroad are likely to have to take holidays or unpaid leave for all additional days that they are trapped overseas.

IT is unfortunate that workers who were unable to return to work after holidays because their flights were grounded may have to forgo further holidays to cover the lost days.

The Public Service Executive Union (PSEU) conference has endorsed its leadership’s decision to recommend acceptance of the Croke Park agreement on public sector pay and reform.

Tralee: IBEC will host a series of free seminars for businesses following an increase in the cost of employee claims against employers.

OVER the last 12 months, the National Employment Rights Authority recovered €2.5m in owed wages for 6,000 workers who were not paid their statutory minimum entitlements by their employers.

THE number of government labour inspectors has declined by over 20% over the last two years, increasing fears that migrant workers could face increased exploitation.

The National Employment Rights Authority secured over €2.3m in unpaid wages for workers from their employers during 2009.

IBEC has launched a range of employment law compliance tools aimed at reducing the exposure of employers to as much as €7 million in annual claims by employees.

Chambers Ireland has said An Bord Snip Nua's recommended cuts "are not enough" for the Govt to balance the books.

WORKERS face waits of up to six months for redundancy payments as the number of claims lodged soars to 1,600 per week.

UNEMPLOYMENT has reached 354,000 and is rising at the rate of 1,000 per day. Brian Cowen told the Dáil it could exceed 450,000 by year end. All his estimates to date have been overly optimistic. The reality is that we face the prospect of more than half a million jobless.

The National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) says it helped to recover more than €3m in unpaid wages owed to workers in Ireland last year.

CHAMBERS IRELAND said that during a time of significant economic challenges the core agenda for Ireland must be about simplification and consolidation to encourage compliance.

THE Migrants Rights Centre of Ireland (MRCI) has claimed foreign- national restaurant workers are being paid as little as €2 per hour while working up to 75 hours of week.

More than half of all migrant workers earn less than the minimum wage, a new report revealed today.