A proposal that the director of corporate enforcement be asked to investigate a Turkish construction company accused of mistreating migrant workers is to be considered by Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin.
The proposal is one of a number of options to be presented to the Minister following an official inquiry into workers' pay and conditions at Gama Construction.
That investigation, by labour inspectors in Mr Martin's department, followed allegations about the company in the Dáil by Socialist TD Joe Higgins.
The inspectors' draft report was yesterday sent to the office of the Attorney General to ensure the findings are legally robust.Once it is cleared by that office, a final report will be presented to the Minister, possibly as early as today.
Among the options set out in the report is that the director of corporate enforcement, Paul Appleby, be asked to carry out a thorough investigation of Gama's accounts.
It is understood this proposal is made in light of Gama's admission earlier this month that it had underpaid the majority of its 800 Turkish workers for most of last year.
It said "errors" involving underpayments of €50 to €3,500 for the workers concerned had been uncovered in an internal review, and three Turkey-based managers had been suspended while an inquiry took place.
Mr Martin responded by suspending the issuing of work permits to the company.
Mr Higgins claimed the admission was "only the beginning of the vindication" of claims he had made about the company in the Dáil last month.
He said then that Gama was engaged in "immigrant worker exploitation of massive proportions". The firm demanded "grotesque" working hours, paid unskilled staff €2-€3 an hour and housed workers in "company barracks", he claimed.
Gama, which has been a major operator in the construction sector since its arrival in Ireland in 2000, dismissed the allegations as "malicious".
It was subsequently embarrassed when forced to admit it had been paying hundreds of its workers less than the legal minimum rate for the construction industry.
The company's legal adviser, solicitor Richard Grogan, said at the time he had advised it to make a full and complete disclosure once the discrepancies had been uncovered.
He said he had also advised Gama that it had only one opportunity to make such a disclosure, and failure to do so at that stage would put its future in Ireland at "serious risk".
Gama declined to comment yesterday, but a source close to the company said last night it was committed to continuing its operations in Ireland.
Gama arrived in Ireland following a trade visit to Turkey by the then minister for enterprise, Mary Harney. It has about 400 Irish staff in addition to its Turkish workforce.
