Migrant women paid €25 for a 14-hour day, Howlin claims

Some young migrant women were being paid as little as €25 for a 14-hour day, Labour enterprise, trade and employment spokesman Brendan Howlin told the Dáil.

A report had found that women coming to work in the Republic as nannies, carers and domestic workers ended up "being treated as domestic slaves, working 14-hour days, for six days a week, sometimes for as little as €1.75 an hour", Mr Howlin said.

Minister for Enterprise Mícheál Martin said any abuse of domestic workers was unacceptable and deserved to be condemned on all sides of the House.

"My department no longer generally issues work permits for domestic workers, including carers or minders and nannies, except in exceptional and limited circumstances where the department may have an assurance that workers have supports in place."

Mr Martin said there were significant legal issues in terms of the enforcement powers that labour inspectors would normally have when engaged in compliance, checking on entry to the employer's premises and on sight of documentation and so on.

However, where the place of work was a domestic dwelling, the position was different, he said. For example, the provisions of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Articles 40 and 43 of the Constitution came into play and placed restrictions on the power of an inspector to enter a premises.

Pressed on the issue by Mr Howlin, the Minister said he would have difficulty with a proposal from the social partners that recruiting agencies or employment agencies should be designated as representing employers.

"I do not think they could represent individuals who would employ people in this context. We will be anxious to resolve some of the issues during the social partnership discussions."

Arthur Morgan (SF, Louth) said that it was fine to quote the Constitution, but many Irish workers did not know what it contained, much less domestic workers coming from abroad on work permits.

Mr Martin said his department would meet a migrant action group to discuss the matters it had raised in the context of the Work Permits Bill which was currently going through the House.