Amnesty International and migrant rights groups have urged the Government to step up plans to close a loophole which means as many as 24,000 undocumented foreign workers have little recourse in cases of exploitation.

A High Court judge made no secret of the fact that the quashing of a €92,000 award to a Pakistani chef who may have been “the victim of the most appalling exploitation by his employer”, gave him little satisfaction.

More Taliban leaders have been captured in Pakistan following the arrest of the group’s deputy leader.