Since 2002, only four employers have been prosecuted for paying their workers less than the minimum wage . . . currently set at 8.65 an hour . . . or for failing to furnish payroll records to Department of Enterprise labour inspectors. A fifth case taken against an employer, J C Stainless, last year is awaiting a decision by the courts, according to records released to the Sunday Tribune by the newly established National Employment Rights Authority (NERA).

In 2002, an employer Tom Geraghty was fined just 100, even though he impeded the department's inspectors seeking to inspect his books to ensure the minimum wage was applied. In another successful prosecution in 2002, employer Patrick O'Donovan was fined 250 after he paid one of his workers �160.12 per week when the legal minimum was �171.60 per week at the time. Another employer, John Ring, also prosecuted in 2002, was fined 500 for failing to pay a worker the minimum hourly rate of pay.

The largest fine of 3,809.22 was levied on the trucking company Nolan Transport in 2004 for failing to keep records and provide labour inspectors with the required information. The number of labour inspectors employed by the NERA is to triple to 90 by the year end.