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Hotels blast back at ‘widespread abuse’ claims
The hospitality industry in the city has rubbished claims by a Galway senator of “widespread abuse” of conditions, payments and rights for younger and non-national workers.
Sinn Féin’s Trevor Ó Clochartaigh has claimed workers’ rights are being undermined – wages are being withheld; tips are not being distributed properly; they are being verbally abused by management and there are no proper breaks. He added that if a complaint is made, workers are sacked.
However, the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) and the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) have both refuted the allegations, branding them “without foundation”, encouraging employees to make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission if they have a grievance.
Adrian Cummins, Chief Executive of the RAI said: “Tell us who they are and we will name them and shame them. I have no problem doing that. I’m in Romania at the moment trying to recruit staff because of a shortage in Ireland. The last thing I want is an employer abusing staff back home and creating the wrong impression.”
Senator Ó Clochartaigh said this week: “It is totally unacceptable that ruthless employers would flagrantly abuse employment law in the way that they are and that a culture of fear is being created to discourage employees from reporting this type of conduct to the relevant authorities, which I firmly believe is the case.
“There are reports of people not getting proper breaks, the withholding of wages, tips not being distributed properly to staff, people on fixed sums being made to work hours over and above those agreed and threats of hours being reduced, or people being sacked if a staff member complains about the conditions.
“I have been told of widespread abuse happening in the hospitality sector in Galway,” he said.“It is quite clear that young people and non-nationals bear the brunt of a lot of the unacceptable treatment, but behaviour of this type in relation to any staff member is simply not good enough.
“I would urge workers who are being abused in their workplace to come forward to the relevant authorities, or to elected representatives to get advice on how this should be tackled,” said Senator Ó Clochartaigh.
In statements to the Galway City Tribune, the IHF and RAI organisations both rubbished the allegations.
RAI Chief Executive Adrian Cummins said: “The RAI totally refute the issues raised by Senator Ó Clochartaigh. Under Irish Law any employee has the right to raise concerns with Workplace Relations which provides information on industrial relations and rights and obligations under Irish employment and equality legislation. I would advise any employee to take this route if they have any concern.
“Over the last five years, not one member of the RAI has been found guilty of any of the allegations that Senator Ó Clochartaigh has raised. I would be delighted to find out what employers Senator Ó Clochartaigh is referring to.”
The IHF said it “refutes these assertions entirely”.
“Irish hotels have a well-earned reputation for excellence as employers and are committed to the highest standards in looking after their employees.
“People working in Irish hotels are among the most highly protected workers in Europe, and this applies equally to all workers regardless of age or nationality.”
For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
