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A stretch of the N7 Motorway Google Maps

N7 workers who were treated "appallingly" by employers awarded more than €1m

“It beggars belief that their ordeal could have lasted for so long,” Judge Carmel Stewart said.

THE HIGH COURT has awarded more than €1m damages and interest to a group of Portuguese workers who claimed they lived in “terrible conditions” at a “work camp” provided by his former employers when they were building a section of the N7 motorway in 2007 and 2008.

The award was made by Justice Carmel Stewart who said the workers were “treated appallingly by their employers”.  

Noting that the workers had been working in Ireland for periods up to two years the Judge said that “it beggars belief that their ordeal could have lasted for so long”.

The 20 workers claimed they were underpaid while working for three Portuguese companies, called the RAC Eire Partnership, that were contracted to construct the section of motorway between Limerick and Nenagh. 

A number of related cases taken by others who worked on the road project have previously been before the courts.

The judge found the workers, who are represented by David McGrath instructed by solicitor Tom O’Regan, are entitled to damages for breach of contract.

They had also claimed that deductions were taken by the employer from their wages for accommodation and laundry were not reasonable or fair and their accommodation was not of a reasonable standard. 

They further alleged their employers maintained fraudulent records of the hours they worked.

The award was made against Portuguese based Rosas Construtores SA, Constructocoes Gabriel AS Couto SA, and Empresa Deconstrucoes Amandio Carvalho SA all trading under the title RAC Contractors or RAC Eire Partnership. 

The defendant partnership was not represented in court, and the claims were uncontested.

In her decision, the judge said the workers who gave evidence before the court were “decent hardworking individuals” who were “entirely blameless” in the events that unfolded since the contract was awarded to build the road in 2006. 

They had come to Ireland to support themselves and their families. “They were treated appallingly by their employers.”

‘No drinkable water’

The Judge praised the work of the State authorities in their works to “regularise the defendant’s enterprise,” adding that “the defendants had fought them every step of the way.”

Their working conditions were brought to light following investigations conducted by the National Employment Rights Authority, the judge said. 

Their employers, the judge said, were found in breach of numerous employment regulations including the Organisation of Working Time Act. The workers, she said, had worked far in excess of what the defendant’s worksheets had indicated.

Stewart said that evidence was given that the Portuguese workers lived in a cramped prefab building where there between six to eight people per room.

The facility, which had been located at a rural townland outside Nenagh, Co Tipperary was also a fire hazard, she said.  

The judge said there was no drinkable water at the accommodation, the showers didn’t work all the time and there was a smell from where wastewater from the facility flowed. 

“The washing facilities provided by the defendants were unfit for any living thing, least of all human beings,” the Judge said, adding that the conditions resulted in the worker’s health being affected.

The judge also accepted that the defendants had made “extortionate deductions from the worker’s wages.” 

Those deductions supposedly went towards items including their food that was insufficient to properly feed the workers and accommodation that was not fit for purpose, the Judge said.  

In all the circumstances the Judge said the workers in these cases were entitled to damages of €818,000 between them. However, the court will make a final award when interest is added to that figure. It is expected that the final award will exceed €1m. 

The matter will be mentioned before the court in the new year. 

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    Mute dB O'Neill
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    Dec 18th 2018, 8:25 PM

    I remember it well, i worked for a company that had a contract with the road builders. Staff were treated awfully all to save a few quid and some management got a lovely bonus from it too.
    It still happens. Any road building scheme that is a ‘joint venture’ will most likely be managed similarly.

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    Mute Margate
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    Dec 18th 2018, 9:16 PM

    @dB O’Neill: That is The Construction Industry in Ireland. Its rip off culture everywhere. It needs to be more accountable, regulated, and work fully guaranteed…which is NOT happening NOW.

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    Mute Gerry Glynn
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    Dec 18th 2018, 9:22 PM

    @Margate: sure we all remember the employers ( Electerian’s) who got together to destroy workers wages

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    Mute dick dastardly
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    Dec 18th 2018, 8:49 PM

    Construction workers in general are treated badly in this country while unions,revenue and the government ignore it.a lot of construction workers are now forced into working on rct tax.basically self employed look after all your own tax,holidays,fees,insurance etc.you are only going week to week if you got work or not.primary builder can just tell you by the evening they have no more work for you.social welfare officers are inundated with lads coming into them saying they no work on,basically the big boys always win and the tradesmen are getting sh!tted on as usual

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    Mute Mick12
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    Dec 18th 2018, 8:35 PM

    Fair play too the workers bit the directors and financial people should be prosecuted big time. It’s always somebody else’s fault but Directors and finance what a load of whatever.

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    Mute John O Reilly
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    Dec 18th 2018, 8:38 PM

    If it’s an award against a foreign company , how will the money be collected ? Or was withheld from the work done pending the court case ?

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    Mute Alan McLoughlin
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    Dec 18th 2018, 8:59 PM

    The same happened with the Turkish workers for GAMA construction down on the M18 past Ennis. Apparently appalling conditions, the joke at the time was it was finished ahead of time because they wanted to go home… now it makes sense!

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    Mute Sean Flaherty
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    Dec 18th 2018, 8:50 PM

    I’d be surprised if the lads see any of that money.

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    Mute prop joe
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    Dec 18th 2018, 9:29 PM

    GAMA workers part 2. Our government let this happen. Well done Joe Higgins.

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    Mute Colonel Grant
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    Dec 18th 2018, 8:44 PM

    Two chances of getting any money out of this company.

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    Mute William Kelly
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    Dec 19th 2018, 4:37 AM

    We are paying out millions of taxpayers funds for state oversight units, which engage highly paid public servants, spend millions more on civil & legal consultants, & we get very poor value & even poorer standards every time. The Dublin Port Tunnel cannot accommodate all port traffic, which still pollutes & congests Northside road systems, both it and the Cork tunnel close ever frequently for ” maintenance & emergencies”, we cannot get public Hospitals built & operating without huge cost over runs & inordinate delays. Yet private hospitals pop up without any such problems, & industrial developments come on stream within budget & on time.
    There is something very lacking in our Public service management that allows these issues to develop.

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    Mute Kieran OKeeffe
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    Dec 18th 2018, 11:07 PM

    What state body is ultimately responsible for overseeing the tender process,and why aren’t they being made accountable for their failings?..silly question

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    Mute Christophe Walter
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    Dec 18th 2018, 11:59 PM

    How did that company even manage to win the contract? Someone dropped the Ball.

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    Mute John Moylan
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    Dec 18th 2018, 11:58 PM

    How are the courts going to collect?

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