More than half of employment law breaches were in the food industry, a new report has found.

The food service activity sector accounted for 54% of employment permit law breaches last year, with 12% in hair and beauty and 11% in wholesale, an ESRI study found.

The report also warned: “Undocumented workers may be reluctant to report poor working conditions due to a fear of losing their job or being deported.”

However, the findings were disputed by Adrian Cummins of the Restaurants Association of Ireland who said there needed to be “more in-depth analysis done”.

Employment inspections are led by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), and some 4,727 inspection cases were carried out last year with 293 breaches of employment permits legislation found.

The report has raised concerns over the number of employment inspectors – in January just 63 WRC inspectors were operating across the State.

Revenue data indicates that there were 191,600 employers in the State in 2023, which gives an overall inspection rate of 2.5%.

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