€3m in unpaid wages recovered by NERA last year

The National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) says it helped to recover more than €3m in unpaid wages owed to workers in Ireland last year.

In its latest annual report, the organisation says it detected more than 4,600 breaches of employment law during the year.

Most breaches were in the catering sector and affected workers on the minimum wage.

NERA says it carried out almost 28,000 inspections of companies in 2008, almost double the amount carried out the previous year.