Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte claimed in the Dail this afternoon that an underclass of cheap labour is being allowed to develop in the economy.
Mr Rabbitte claimed during Leaders' Questions that migrant workers were being casually exploited by employers on a daily basis.
The Dublin TD also complained that domestic servants were prisoners in the homes of Celtic Tiger families and that there were more dog wardens than labour inspectors across the country.
"We have seen the development of an underclass of cheap labour in the economy which we have previously seen in other parts of Europe," he said.
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte
He cited a recent Labour Court case where two workers employed for three weeks were found to have been cheated out of €7,000. In a separate case, a mushroom farm employee was paid half the minimum wage for working 12 hours a day for seven days a week.
"We've had some horrific cases of abuse of migrant workers in domestic service who are excluded from the terms of the Employment Equality Act because domestic service wasn't a phenomenon at the time it was enacted," Mr Rabbitte continued. "Domestic servants are prisoners in the homes of the noveau riche working for the poorest of pay."
Mr Rabbitte said that only 21 of the promised 31 labour inspectors were currently at work. "Even every county has a dog warden but not every county has a labour inspector," he said.
The number of inspections has dropped by 8,373 in 2003 to 5,160 last year.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern replied that there were sufficient labour laws to regulate employers in the economy. "If there are people abusing the system, we have to do something," he said.
The Taoiseach said employers were mistaken if they believed they could increase their profit margins by sacking an Irish worker and hiring a foreign national in his place. "We have to take a very dim view of that. If there is evidence of that, it should be reported and dealt with."