Siptu leader Jack O'Connor, said that he had "floated" the idea of union officials transferring over to the labour inspectorate after the government had agreed to treble the number of inspectors from 31 to 90 and increase its powers.

Currently, labour inspectors are civil servants and some trade unions felt that with the increasing level of exploitation being unearthed a more steely inspectorate was required.

But O'Connor said that the unions eventually agreed that it was best to keep the new inspectorate within the civil service. The unions were told that under the Official Secrets Act, the Revenue Commissioners could not pass over sensitive information on employers to the inspectorate.

Siptu will hold a special consultative conference on the new deal on 4 July. Ictu will hold its conference on 5 September.