CALLS have been made for an om- budsman to be appointed to protect the rights of migrant workers and prevent a repeat of the situation which saw GAMA employees work- ing on the Ennis bypass being paid less than the minimum wage.
North Clare Councillor Martin Conway (FG) wants an ombudsman to be appointed as “a matter of ur- gency’. Following the recent ap- pointment of Ireland’s first Garda Ombudsman last month, Conway believes that an ombudsman for mi- grant workers would be a positive step.
Conway was the first public repre- sentative to highlight the plight of the Turkish workers who were involved in the construction of the Ennis by- pass through a notice of motion ta- bled by the north Clare councillor in
2005.
“It was amazing how a simple no- tice of motion at a council meeting helped trigger a follow-up set of cir- cumstances which ended up helping a whole community of workers get what they were entitled to anyway,” he said.
“With this in mind, I believe that there should be an ombudsman for immigrant workers set up as a matter OMT ESXes Neate
“Such an office properly funded with adequate language interpret- ers and real power would be a very important office for protecting the rights of non-national workers.
“It would provide a vehicle for non- national workers to ensure that their rights were being respected by Gov- ernment departments and other arms of the State which may take advan- tage of the fact that they are non-na- tionals with poor English.”