http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ethnic-eateries-cook-the-books-with-low-wages-3334474.html Social Protection and Revenue investigations are under way into suspected welfare fraud by workers in ethnic restaurants who are receiving cash payments while claiming income support and other welfare payments.

Legitimate restaurateurs are understood to have complained after discovering they are being undercut by rivals who pay very low wages.

This allows staff, who have gained Irish citizenship after being here for five years, to avoid tax and make substantially more income through cash payments and welfare fraud.

While the low wages are declared to Revenue on the restaurants' books, staff can claim income supplements and rent allowance and other supplements, they say.

Low wages are then topped up with tips and other non-declared cash earnings, allowing workers to earn more than staff working in legitimate restaurants who properly pay tax and PRSI.

The practice is said to be widespread and is threatening the restaurants who have been in business for decades and pay PAYE and PRSI.

Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said yesterday that the practice indicated that there has been a lack of "joined-up thinking" between Revenue and Social Protection but he hoped that the matter would be properly investigated "jointly" by the two departments.

"If there is a law being broken, that is something that needs to be dealt with by the authorities. The law should be upheld. There is a disconnect between Revenue and Social Protection and if this practice is threatening the existence of legitimate restaurants then they need to be talking to each other. There are fundamental issues here and if it is true that they are doing wrong that should be dealt with. There needs to be a proper investigation.

"People have invested their life savings to set up in restaurant businesses and they need to be protected by this form of subsidised labour."

It is understood that some restaurant owners are receiving advice from people with accountancy skills about declaring that they are paying their staff just under the €350 per week limit at which those with Irish citizenship can claim benefits, and then have their wages topped up with cash. The illegal declaration of such low wages also means they can claim medical card cover.

Industry sources said that, aside from social welfare and revenue fraud, there was also said to be widespread abuse of non-Irish staff working in ethnic restaurants.

Many staff are working "in slave conditions", while waiting to serve out the five-year period before they claim citizenship. The Government has stated that it is cracking down on welfare fraud and claimed to have uncovered 900,000 fake claims totalling around half a billion euro in the last year.

However, language difficulties and the cost of hiring translators has caused investigations into the ethnic food and restaurant sector to be difficult.

The Department of Social Protection has only 90 special investigators, although staff have received training to spot fraud.

The department said it was "on course" to make savings of €645m this year from stopping fraudulent claims out of a total annual bill of €21bn for welfare payments.

Don't eat food from Pakis, Indians and Blacks - YouTube

COCKROACHES, congealed blood and dead rats were among the unsavoury discoveries that led to restaurants, food shops and wholesalers being closed by health inspectors this year.

A record 90 food businesses were served with closure orders in 2012 due to a litany of hygiene problems.

The Irish Independent has obtained details under freedom of information rules of the reasons why so many premises were told to shut down food operations until they'd cleaned up their act.

A dead rat which left droppings under the cooking equipment and on the freezer was the reason why the Oriental Express on Dublin's Parnell Street was served with a closure order on March 21.

This was lifted a few days later when the premises was cleaned up.

Meanwhile, a live rodent confronted one health inspector at Scoby's restaurant in Co Limerick and she even managed to snap a picture of the furry creature in the staff bathroom.

Rodent droppings were also found in the attic of Scoby's on Main Street, Hospital, and the Health Services Executive (HSE) issued a closure order on September 18, which was lifted within days after remedial pest-proofing.

Gnawed packaging and pest droppings on shelves and food led to Slovakpoint food shop on Cork's Lavitt Quay being served with a closure order on October 24, again lifted within days.

Cobwebs, spiders and flying insects in the kitchen, service and storage areas led to Star King Pan Asian Restaurant in Galway Shopping Centre, Headford Road, being served with a closure order on November 8.

Doors from the kitchen were left open directly on to a dirty yard full of chicken bones, mouldy food, pools of greasy waste water and other waste.

'Filthy'

Inside the coldrooms, raw meat was stored in dirty, greasy, unlabelled containers while soiled trays were placed directly on top of cooked meat, and some meat was out of date.

"The entire premises including the walk-in coldrooms, refrigeration units, freezer and dry goods store were in a filthy condition throughout," a HSE inspector wrote. The closure order was lifted on December 13 when the problems were fixed.

A live cockroach infestation, which had not been dealt with despite a warning, was why the Bon Marche grocery store on Phibsboro Road, Dublin 7, was served with a closure order on April 10. The order was lifted on April 16 when the infestation was eradicated.

Failure to wash hands between handling raw poultry and cooked meat, and very poor hygiene were key reasons for the closure of Nice Star takeaway Main Street, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, on February 3. An inspector observed a food worker using dirty cloths to clean hands after handling meat, and wiping food-preparation surfaces with the same cloth.

The inspector required all food workers to be suitably trained or supervised and for the premises and equipment to be thoroughly cleaned, after which the closure order was lifted on February 8.

Sewage smells

Foul sewage smells, dirt and debris led to Chilli Kebabish takeaway in Limerick being closed on October 2. An inspector found dirty fridges with foul odours, broken tiles, burnt food debris, flies, cigarette butts, rubbish and a lack of documented pest control on the premises. The premises was allowed to reopen on October 10 after cleaning.

Congealed blood on a fridge and filthy cooking equipment "overflowing with liquid grease and food residue" contributed to Knox Street Bistro & Cafe in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, being served with a closure order on January 31.

The order was lifted on February 16 when the problems were sorted out.

A record number of Irish food businesses were shut down in 2012 due to health violations.

The Irish Independent reports that cockroaches, dead rats and congealed blood were some of the the reasons that a record 90 food operations were shut down this year.

Among the findings, a dead rat, which had left droppings under cooking equipment and on the freezer led to the Oriental Express on Dublin's Parnell Street being shut down on March 21. The closure order was lifted a few days later after the premises was cleaned up.

Slovakpoint food shop on Cork's Lavitt Quay was served with a closure order on October 24, after health inspectors found gnawed packaging and pest droppings on shelves and food.

Health inspectors found cobwebs, spiders and flying insects in the kitchen, service and storage areas of the Star King Pan Asian Restaurant in Galway Shopping Centre, Headford Road, which was served with a closure order on November 8.

The Independent reports that doors from the kitchen were left open directly on to a dirty yard full of chicken bones, mouldy food, pools of greasy waste water and other waste.

"The entire premises including the walk-in coldrooms, refrigeration units, freezer and dry goods store were in a filthy condition throughout," a HSE inspector wrote. The closure order was lifted on December 13 when the problems were fixed.

The Bon Marche grocery store on Phibsboro Road, Dublin 7, was served a closure order on April 10 due to a live cockroach infestation. The order was lifted on April 16 when the infestation was eradicated.

Congealed blood on a fridge and filthy cooking equipment "overflowing with liquid grease and food residue" led to Knox Street Bistro & Cafe in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, being served with a closure order on January 31, which was lifted on February 16 after the place was cleaned.

Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Record-number-of-Irish-restaurants-and-food-shops-shut-down-in-2012-due-to-health-violations-185210592.html#ixzz2GEv7tZm8
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