EU report on child labour calls for protection programmes

An EU report on child labour is calling for the mandatory implementation of child protection programmes in all member states.

The study outlines many factors which affect child labour, but says it is inextricably linked to education.

Fianna Fáil MEP Liam Aylward is coordinating research into the social consequences of child labour and the strategies to combat it.

He is also a member of the joint EU committee with the African Caribbean Pacific Assembly, a region he says is significantly affected.

Mr Aylward has said retailers and consumers also have a responsibility to ensure goods are produced free of child labour.

"Even recently there was a company who was found guilty of selling a product in the Irish market which was produced in a sweat shop. If there wasn’t a market for the supply chain, that wouldn’t happen," he said.