‘Deplorable conditions’ for road project workers

A group of workers who were paid less than the minimum wage and housed in “deplorable” conditions on a multi-million-euro road project have won their right to damages from the companies that employed them.

The 27 workers from Portugal are seeking €1.5m in backpay and illegal deductions after their ordeal on the Limerick-Nenagh stretch of the N7 from 2007-2009.

Their long-running claim for damages was approved in the High Court with the exact sum to be decided next month but presiding judge Mr Justice David Keane left no doubt over his views on the three defendant firms.

He said they had engaged in “systematic and deliberate” falsification of employment records and used contracts designed to circumvent employment law.

The three Portuguese firms who were contracted by an Irish-Portuguese consortium are also facing claims from three more groups of workers with similar complaints.

The workers had contracts stating they would be paid €1,350 monthly — equivalent to the minimum wage for a 40-hour week which was well below the rates they were due under the registered employment agreement for the construction industry.

They worked in excess of 60 hours, however, although their working hours records did not reflect this.

They were also told their accommodation and food would be provided free but they were deducted €520 per month for board in cramped prefabs located on a sliproad without drinking water or proper toilet and washing facilities.

Mr Justice Keane said the conditions recorded by inspectors were “deplorable, even dangerous”.

The three firms, called the RAC Eire Partnership, were previously fined €3,000 in the district court for falsifying working hours records in a case taken by the National Employment Rights Authority after the Siptu trade union raised concerns.