Foreign workers are being paid as little as €2.83 an hour by rogue builders abusing agreed pay rates in the construction industry, it was claimed at a meeting between trade union representatives and politicians in Cork yesterday.
Billy Curtin, secretary of the Cork Building Group (CBG), presented local politicians with documents including wage slips, showing how workers from overseas are being paid an average of €5 to €8 an hour for up to 75-hour weeks.
Mr Curtin claimed some builders are informing Irish labourers they are not hiring staff from this country because foreign workers will do the job for less.
He is demanding that builders found flouting the agreed wage rates be brought before the Labour Court and prosecuted if necessary.
"We have evidence of lads working for €5 an hour. I even have evidence of lads up the country working for €2.83. We will be asking what the politicians are going to do about it. We have people [ Irish workers] coming to us every day of the week because they can't get work."
Cork plasterer Tony Calnan said there had to be a level playing field for workers in the construction industry.
He said that the exploitation of foreign workers could not be allowed to continue.
"When we went abroad we got better paid. Those lads who come in from the eastern bloc countries think they are getting better paid, but why shouldn't they have the same standard of living as us?" Mr Calnan asked.
CBG says that more than 300 skilled Irish workers in Cork city have lost their jobs as greedy builders continue to take advantage of cheap migrant labour.
The group represents 20,000 electricians, plumbers, carpenters and plasterers across Munster.
It warns that the construction industry in Cork is facing its biggest crisis since the 1980s when labourers had to go to Britain for jobs.
The agreed Construction Industry Federation pay rate is €16.87 an hour.
Yesterday's meeting at Connolly Hall in Cork was attended by representatives of the CBG and Siptu and a number of local politicians.
Deputy Kathleen Lynch (Labour) echoed the union calls for an increase in the number of construction site inspections in order to lead to a greater enforcement of pay and health and safety regulations.
Currently, Ireland only has 31 site inspectors.