Call to ban unlicensed foreign employment agencies

Foreign employment agencies should be banned from operating in the Irish market without a licence, it was claimed tonight.

Although all Irish-based agencies must have a licence to operate, the 35-year-old legislation governing the sector does not require foreign-based agencies to have a licence.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said one Polish employment agency had offered to supply workers for under €5 per hour, far less than the legal minimum wage of €7.65 per hour.

Its policy officer Esther Lynch said new legislation was required to make it illegal for an employment agency to operate in Ireland, without a licence.

“And to ensure the same rule applies to agencies operating overseas, or via the internet, it should be illegal for an employer in Ireland to use or subcontract work to an unregistered agency. This matter is a priority for Congress, in the current social partnership talks,” she said.

The National Recruitment Federation (NRF), which held its annual conference in Dublin today, represents around 100 of the country’s 450 recruitment agencies.

The sector employs 10,000 staff and supplies around 35,000 workers across all sectors of the economy including healthcare, construction and office work.

NRF president Frank Collins said his organisation supported the call for a new licensing system.

“There is a flaw in the current system. There are foreign employment agencies working in Ireland without licences and other people are effectively acting as employment agencies, like the language schools,” he said.

But Mr Collins estimated foreign employment agencies controlled only 1% of the market, adding that he did not agree with ICTU’s claim that workers were being displaced.

“If an Irish person leaves to go to a better job and that person is replaced by a foreign person, that is not displacement, that’s a good thing,” he said.

He said the employment agency which had hired the lower paid foreign workers to replace the staff on Irish Ferries had been from the Philippines.

“It only takes one or two bad operators to give the entire industry a bad name,” he said.

The Department of Enterprise and Employment is currently reviewing the 1971 Employment Agency Act, which both unions and employers agree is outdated.

It was drawn up at at time when the overriding concern was to prevent foreign agencies recruiting workers from the depressed Irish economy.

Mr Collins said that contrary to popular perceptions, temporary workers were entitled to holiday pay and were often paid more than their permanent counterparts.

He said it was a myth that temporary workers were being exploited in an era of full employment.

“If an agency abuses a temporary worker, Irish people are not stupid. They know they can go to another agency and get another job,” he said.