Just two weeks ago, during Question Time, my colleague Deputy Rabbitte drew to the attention of the Minister for Labour the appalling treatment of a group of young Irish workers who had been sent by FÁS to work in a company in Munich. He outlined major problems regarding wages, accommodation, washing facilities and said that they felt they had been seriously misled by FÁS.
I again draw to the attention of the Minister the shocking treatment of yet another group of Irish workers who were also sent to Germany by FÁS. This group were skilled workers, including electricians, toolmakers, carpenters and a constituent of mine who was a sheet metal worker with ten years experience. They were recruited by FÁS under a programme called, I believe, the Second Programme for Master Craftsmen — Germany, which is supposed to involve sending skilled workers to Germany to allow them to improve their skills and to bring them up to master craftsmen level.
They went to Germany after undertaking a four week language training course in FÁS in Baldoyle. Before they left they got nothing in writing from FÁS, simply a verbal indication of where they would be working.
The full details of the appalling treatment of these workers is too complicated to go into in full in the time available here tonight, but I am quite prepared to make it available to the Minister in full. However, the main problems were as follows: Some of the men were not employed in any skilled work in their area of expertise. They were asked to undertake unskilled menial work in what can only be described as back street-garage type operations; they were initially paid only 120 DM per week (about £50), although this was doubled when the workers complained; after being initially accommodated in a college, about which they had no complaints, they were put up in a hostel where the living conditions were dreadful. In the case of my constituent he was sharing with seven other workers, making a total of eight in a room measuring only around 15 ft. by 20 ft, which also included bunks, a sink unit, three wardrobes and chairs; their German contact, who I understand was an agent of the local chamber of commerce, was most unhelpful, providing little or no information. On some occasions the Irish workers were asked to sign documents in German, which were not translated for them; although based originally in Cologne, my constituent was on a number of occasions taken to locations up to 120 miles away to work with small family concerns. In one case, the family had no spare accommodation of their own, and the FÁS worker had to be put up with a neighbour in a room which was a converted bathroom and which was initially without even a bed. On some of their jobs, the workers were paid as little as 12 DM per hour, although I understand that the legal minimum is 16 DM per hour; while all this was going on, there was no contact whatsoever with FÁS. When eventually they managed to make contact by phone with FÁS in Dublin, they got little attention or sympathy, although a FÁS representative from Cork did arrive to follow up on complaints about the treatment of a separate group of Irish apprentices.
I believe that the treatment of these workers was so appalling that FÁS should immediately end this particular programme and review all its procedures for sending Irish workers abroad. My understanding is that the programme was originally introduced when Germany needed skilled workers and was glad to take tradesmen from Ireland. However, following on German unification there is apparently plenty of skilled labour available from the former GDR. There is no skilled work available for Irish workers, certainly nothing that will increase their training and skills as promised and they are, therefore, shamelessly being used and exploited as cheap labour.
The obligations of FÁS to those whom they send to work abroad should not end once they leave Irish territory. If FÁS are to continue to send people abroad they must ensure that the working and living conditions are of an acceptable standard, and that they are supervised by FÁS representatives. They must also ensure that there are clear complaint procedures where workers run into difficulty.
