Migrant workers - Government must tackle exploitation

THE plight of a Filipina beautician, who was paid slave wages on an Irish Ferries ship, has turned the spotlight sharply on the need for a radical overhaul of Ireland’s policy of issuing work permits to employers rather than directly to foreign workers.

By giving companies exclusive control over such permits, the Government is blatantly militating against the interests of migrant employees and exposing them to naked exploitation and violation of labour regulations.

So notorious is the Irish system that the United Nations has called on the Government to remedy the situation as a matter of urgency.