An inspectors' report into alleged mistreatment of its workers by Gama Construction was yesterday presented to Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin, who undertook to publish it "as soon as possible".
Mr Martin received the report as Gama denied allegations of exploitation when it met some of its Turkish workers and officials of their union, Siptu, in Dublin last night. The meeting ended without agreement.
Several hundred Gama workers staged protests in Dublin and Galway this week, claiming that money belonging to them had been paid into Dutch bank accounts without their knowledge. Gama denies the allegation and says workers have always had access to the accounts, held at a branch of Finansbank in Amsterdam. The company has been at the centre of controversy since February when Socialist TD Joe Higgins accused it in the Dáil of engaging in "immigrant worker exploitation of massive proportions".
The labour inspectorate of Mr Martin's department subsequently undertook an investigation. The Minister said last night that he was anxious to publish the report in the public interest.
Gama, however, secured a temporary High Court injunction last week preventing the release of the report. The matter comes before the court again on Monday. If the injunction is lifted, Mr Martin is expected to have the report published through the Oireachtas.
The Minister said last night that the labour inspectorate was continuing its investigation into Gama and if breaches of employment legislation were found, the law would be "enforced in full".
His objective was that all workers were given their due entitlement and their terms and conditions of employment were in accordance with the law and were honoured in full. He also said he would be meeting representatives of the Ictu, Siptu and the Construction Industry Federation to discuss the issue.
Siptu construction branch secretary Eric Fleming defended the union against criticism that it had failed to respond to the alleged exploitation of Gama workers at an earlier stage.
He said Siptu had been meeting Gama since 2002 to make representations on behalf of both its Irish and Turkish employees.
Other construction unions have also had dealings with Gama in the past but prior to Mr Higgins's statement in the Dáil in February, none found any evidence of wrongdoing.
A previous investigation by the labour inspectorate also gave the company a clean bill of health.
