Ruthless firms must be made pay

BECAUSE of the appalling nature of the scandal of child sexual abuse in this country and around the world, there is a significant risk that the gravity of another heinous crime against children, namely their exploitation in the workplace

Judging by the litany of commercial exploitation exposed in today’s front page report, the scale of abuse by greedy Irish employers, motivated by profit at any cost, now represents a growing problem for society.

Perhaps the most worrying aspect of this controversy has been the abject failure of the powers-that-be to recognise the insidious tendency of a seemingly commonplace crime to become more or less acceptable when overshadowed by a much greater offence.