The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has welcomed the decision of the Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn to appoint monitors in order to audit compliance with terms and conditions of employment in the country's school building programme.
Congress official Fergus Whelan said: "We has been concerned for some time that unsustainable tendering and procurement practices have been leading to hidden economy activity, runaway contractors and the exploitation of workers.The appointment of auditors will send the right message to would be non-compliant contractors .
"However we believe that public procurers will have to go further and adopt a policy of ensuring that tender prices are sustainable, so as not to encourage bad practice and to give contractors the possibility of finishing work without having to rely on cheap, exploited labour," Mr Whelan concluded.
