Government labour inspectors are to investigate claims that a group of South African people working on a multi-million euro contract for Bus Éireann are being paid €2.80 an hour - less than half the minimum wage.
Nineteen South Africans working on the Government-funded contract to fit seatbelts on Bus Éireann school buses have not been receiving payslips and have yet to be paid for overtime, both of which they are entitled to under Irish employment law.
Bus Éireann statement
A spokeswoman for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment told ireland.comthat an investigation had been opened into the claims. This would usually involve visits by labour inspectors to the companies concerned, she confirmed.
The South African company employing the men, and the Irish firm they are subcontracted, to denied they are in breach of the law.
Both companies said that free accommodation, transport, flights and other allowances brought the men's minimum wage to in excess of the Irish minimum of €7.65 per hour.
The men, based in various locations around the country, are working for a South African company, Marble Gold.
This company is in turn working as a subcontractor for an Irish firm, Transport Component Distributors (TCD), which won the Bus Éireann contract for the retro-fitting.
Mr Harry Nash of Transport Components Ltd denied this morning that the men were not being paid properly.
In detailed figures sent to Bus Éireann, the Irish contractor said that when the cost of their flights, accommodation and bonuses are taken into account, the men are receiving an average wage of €8.74 an hour.
Direct employees of the Irish company, many of them Polish, are being paid a basic wage of €10 an hour, before overtime, for the same work.
Yesterday Bus Éireann told The Irish Times it would immediately rescind the contract if it was found that contractors were in breach of employment legislation.
"It is Bus Éireann policy to only deal with contractors compliant with all aspects of employment legislation requirements - both in respect of their directly-employed staff and any staff subcontracted by them," a statement from the company said.
Sinn Féin TD Arthur Morgan
Sinn Féin TD Arthur Morgan said he had talked to some of the South African workers concerned and that they had not been given wage slips, PPS numbers or copies of their work permits. Nor had they been paid overtime to date despite working up to 72 hours a week including night shifts.
He said it was "totally unacceptable" that workers, who are in effect working for the state, are "being exploited in this manner".
"Over a dozen men are working at sites in Dublin, Donegal, Rosslare, Cork and Athlone. I have examined copies of their contracts and bank statements and there is clear evidence that they are being paid far below the minimum wage."
He said Sinn Féin was calling for an immediate investigation by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and for retrospective payment to be made to the workers concerned.
The party also called for public procurement rules to be tightened up to ensure that companies who breech employment law are ineligible for public contracts. Mr Morgan also said the Labour Inspectorate of the Department needed to be increased to the projected 90 staff immediately.