Employment agencies should be regulated by the State and Irish employers should be prosecuted for using ones that operate illegally, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) has said.
The issue will feature on the Dáil's agenda tonight when, unusually, Labour and Sinn Féin will combine to push for stronger protections for workers recruited by agencies.
In a briefing paper to TDs circulated yesterday, Ictu said every other EU state, bar the UK, insists that agency workers "receive the same terms and conditions as comparable permanent employees".
Ictu legislation officer Esther Lynch said employers have tried to create "scare stories" that change would mean they would have to pay unaffordable increases to agency staff.
"We are not saying that people should get the same pay. We're not saying that an agency worker should get the same pay as a person with 20 years' service, but, rather, what that person would have got when they started," she said.
Demanding that all agencies should be licensed, Ms Lynch said employers should be required by law to use only Irish-registered companies "and not internet-based ones".
"It is the most effective way to ensure that agencies operating in Ireland comply with our legislation and create a level playing field," she said, adding that security firms and tour agents already operate under similar rules.