Casual labour at Shiels'

Niall_G

Does anyone know if guys still wait around Sheils' in the morning looking for a day's work? The last day I needed somebody there was nobody there, but I may just have been too late. Thanks.

MarkR

I was actually wondering was that what those guys were doing. Not sure were they waiting for a lift, or looking to work. Saw some there a couple of weeks ago, so help. Sorry.

bannermaf

I still see them there alright, but they're there early enough in the mornings.

CiaranMT

I'd have been passing for work at 9.15 when I was in Ennis and there would've been lads waiting there.

firesidechat

I thought the recession took care of those guys .
Lots of good hardworking qualified tradesmen are out of work and some scrupulous contractor is paying these guys cash under the table .
Where the hell is the revenue on this issue?
it's well time for the social welfare and revenue to crack down on this carry on.
Contractors should receive heavy fines and those who are looking to work on the black should loose their benefits.

I know too many decent tradesmen sitting at home with no work.

link_2007

This thread just popped up on the front page and I clicked on it on out of curiosity. Jesus, I didn't know things were as bad as this.

mikemac

Was very common in Gort with the Brazilians, if you need a labourer for the day pick one up. Were getting awful money but they were happy
RTÉ did a piece on it

Didn't realize Irish people were queuing for work in Clare

Niall_G

Not Irish - mainly Brazilian, with a few Polish, Portuguese, and other nationalities. They were there in the good times too; just less of them now.

firesidechat

Exactly
These are people who are already receiving benefits working on the black.
All non nationals .
They are more than entitled to be here ,as long as they abide by the law .

Ridiculous .............................

rainbowdash

firesidechat wrote: »

Exactly
These are people who are already receiving benefits working on the black.
All non nationals .
They are more than entitled to be here ,as long as they abide by the law .

Ridiculous .............................

As if all Irish people are honest and law abiding and none of them work the black economy:rolleyes:

firesidechat

'Anybody' who is claiming and working on the side is just as guilty as the other.
These guys are just been very blatent with their activity .

Balagan

firesidechat wrote: »

Exactly
These are people who are already receiving benefits working on the black.
All non nationals .
They are more than entitled to be here ,as long as they abide by the law .

Ridiculous .............................

If they are non-nationals, the chances are indeed extremely high that they have been unable to prove habitual residence here and without that they get no social assistance payments.

PARKHEAD67

firesidechat wrote: »

Exactly
These are people who are already receiving benefits working on the black.
All non nationals .
They are more than entitled to be here ,as long as they abide by the law .

Ridiculous .............................

I agree.If theyre getting dole.But the guards are ALWAYS calling into Shiels for their coffee, donut etc. Up to them surely ........

firesidechat

Balagan wrote: »

If they are non-nationals, the chances are indeed extremely high that they have been unable to prove habitual residence here and without that they get no social assistance payments.

Well then one has to question their decision to come and try to survive here in the middle of our worse ever recession.

No matter what the circumstances , They should not be allowed to flout the law , especially with soo many others who are jobless and whom have paid PSRI .

Nor should those who give them work be allowed to flout their responsibilities either.

Clareman

Just a reminder to keep the discussion civil and not to call each other names or attack the poster, it's possible to have a discussion without resorting to insults, hopefully.

I have "hidden" posts from a couple of posters which was getting a bit too heated, I think you both know who you are and had offered to take the discussion to PM anyway, if you don't think I should have "hidden" the posts let me know and I'll restore them and action on them accordingly.

I've been struggling to mod this thread for the past couple of days and have left a few things slide because I didn't want to seem to be controlling discussion on here, but there's a couple of things I'd like to point out.
This thread started off discussing the availability of manual workers in the Gort Road area of town, I would personally have called Sheils' where the Ford main dealers is now, but I think everyone know that we're talking about the petrol station.
Speculation of people's nationality/race should not be a factor in any civilized discussion.
If you want to discuss the impact of nixers/tommers/side-jobs on the economy please feel free to, but I don't think a regional forum is the place to do so, I'm sure there's plenty of other places to discuss this.

Balagan

firesidechat wrote: »

Well then one has to question their decision to come and try to survive here in the middle of our worse ever recession.

No matter what the circumstances , They should not be allowed to flout the law , especially with soo many others who are jobless and whom have paid PSRI .

Nor should those who give them work be allowed to flout their responsibilities either.

It's not as if they came swarming in since the recession started. This particular casual labour pick up point has been in operation for many years - even at the height of the tiger - as was a similar arrangement in Gort. Some of these men are still here, having put down roots as is normal with human beings. You're right in saying they shouldn't be flouting the law, nor should their employers - nor should so many of us in one way or another and it would be good if we could pull our socks up and be better but I just don't think leaving some people who are at the very edges of society to starve would be the best way to start that process.

rainbowdash

firesidechat wrote: »

Well then one has to question their decision to come and try to survive here in the middle of our worse ever recession.

No matter what the circumstances , They should not be allowed to flout the law , especially with soo many others who are jobless and whom have paid PSRI .

Nor should those who give them work be allowed to flout their responsibilities either.

How exactly are they flouting the law? Casual labour at the rates they would get they would hardly pay any tax on the income anyway.

If they are not paying PRSI they are unable to get the benefits of that such as illness benefit etc.

Maybe we should shut down all the markets and street vendors and throw all these people on the dole, heaping more pressure on social welfare.

firesidechat

All street and market vendors are now required to be liscenced, Therefore making it a lot easier for revenue control etc;
We cannot have a society where people are allowed to work under the radar.

How about the contractor who pulls up in his big jeep to offer these lads work. He certainly is not contributing to our economical recovery on a level playing field as many of his peers are .
There are labor laws and they are there for a reason , If these lads were to be payed the required wages agreed by the national labor agreement we would find that they would be contributing greatly to our national coffers .