Probe into building site welfare fraud claim
His commitment came after a TD told the Dáil he had been contacted by a whistleblower who had warned workers were being underpaid on a major state building project in Dublin.
Fianna Fáil’s Robert Troy said work had been sub-contracted out and workers’ entitlements were being ignored.
The Longford-Westmeath TD said: “The whistleblower claims that a number of important, State contracts have been awarded to legitimate operators but that the work is then being carried out by subcontractors who are ignoring basic terms and conditions for workers, facilitating wholesale social welfare fraud, and failing to meet their statutory obligations.”
He said work was being done by a subcontractor registered outside the State on St Patrick’s College, in Drumcondra.
“The whistleblower claims that this subcontractor is paying rates which are far below the market rate and is facilitating workers to continue to receive a social welfare payment,” he said.
Mr Troy said this undercut other builders employing staff and paying PRSI contributions, resulted in more welfare payouts, and was against the law.
The whistleblower had also alerted Mr Quinn and Social Protection Minister Joan Burton to the alleged fraud, he claimed.
Mr Quinn said he was aware of the case and that he had already asked officials to investigate the claims. He said he was told that the alleged breaches were not happening but that he was, at the same time, not satisfied that there was not any substance to the whistleblower’s allegations.
However, he said that this type of problem had “persisted for many years” with regard to builders on sites.
While inspectors had found no cases of fraud, Mr Quinn pledged to make further inquiries.
Mr Troy said it had been announced earlier in the week on RTÉ radio that inspections of education building sites would take place during the summer, but that this was akin to telling a burglar when a house is vacant. He also said inspectors had not yet visited the Drumcondra site.
A spokeswoman for Mr Quinn said inspectors had gone into St Patrick’s in north Dublin last October but would also carry out another inspection.
Overall, up to 16 random audits had been carried out on education-related building projects, following a number of complaints to the department.
Some cases were referred to Revenue, Social Protection, and to the National Employment Rights Authority, she said.
