Gama fails to satisfy Minister on pay owed to workers

Gama Construction is still being pursued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for confirmation that its workers…

Gama Construction is still being pursued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for confirmation that its workers have received all money owed to them, the Dáil has been told.

The Turkish construction company was at the centre of controversy last year after Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins accused it in the Dáil of exploiting its migrant workers.

Recent correspondence between the company and the department has failed to satisfy Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin that all money due to the workers have been paid.

In a written Dáil reply to a question by Labour TD Róisín Shortall, Mr Martin said Gama had supplied a "substantial volume" of data to his department in recent weeks.

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The department had sought details on money transferred to accounts in the workers' names in Finansbank, in Holland, and from there to their personal accounts in Turkey.

"The information supplied was not sufficient to enable me to assure the deputy that all Gama workers in Ireland, both past and present, have received value for the amounts that were transferred into their personal accounts in Finansbank," the Minister told Ms Shortall.

He added: "The department has advised Gama by letter dated April 4th, 2006 that the material recently supplied does not enable the establishment of the factual position in relation to the workers about whom I am concerned. Gama has been asked again to supply the missing information."

The existence of the Finansbank accounts was made public by Mr Higgins during the controversy over Gama's employment practices.

Labour inspectors from Mr Martin's department carried out an investigation into Gama after Mr Higgins claimed that it was paying workers between €2 and €3 an hour on its construction sites.

Copies of the inspectors' report were forwarded to the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the Revenue Commissioners, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Competition Authority, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Garda Commissioner.

The report was subsequently quashed by the High Court, however, after it was legally challenged by the company.

That decision is being appealed by the department to the Supreme Court.

Chris Dooley

Chris Dooley

Chris Dooley is Foreign Editor of The Irish Times