The High Court has awarded Portuguese workers €1,000 for each month they lived in accommodation provided by their employers near the N7 Nenagh-Limerick road project, finding that the conditions caused physical inconvenience and mental distress. The court did not enter final judgment for the total amount assessed because a tax-related deduction and interest calculation remain outstanding.
In a judgment delivered on 18 December 2018, Ms Justice Stewart dealt with seven linked sets of proceedings against three Portuguese companies trading in Ireland as RAC Eire. The first three cases had previously been decided by the High Court and largely upheld on appeal; they returned for an assessment of general damages. Four other cases were heard in full.
The workers were employed on the road project between 2007 and 2009. The judgment describes severe overcrowding and inadequate washing, cooking and sanitation facilities in the compound where many were housed. The court accepted earlier findings about the working and living conditions in the first three cases and said evidence in the four newer cases supported those findings.
Justice Stewart found that all plaintiffs who gave evidence qualified for general damages for distress and physical inconvenience. The court set a common rate of €1,000 per month, with each worker’s recoverable period tied to the period supported by reliable evidence. It excluded initial months spent in a house where conditions were found to be significantly better than in the compound.
The court also addressed unpaid wages and deductions, but found errors and gaps in the evidence used to calculate some claims. It said pecuniary awards could be made only where the calculations were linked to proven facts. Some workers could not receive general damages because they had not given evidence or the court could not establish a sufficiently certain recovery period. The court made exceptions for a plaintiff who had been unable to attend because his wife went into labour and for plaintiffs who had died before the hearing; their cases are to be adjourned.
The court rejected the claim for aggravated damages and awarded statutory interest under section 22 of the Courts Act 1981, at 8% a year up to 31 December 2016 and 2% thereafter, subject to interest already addressed in the earlier cases. It assessed the awards at €818,081.58 in total, but said final judgment could not yet be entered. The parties were to address the precise order after the Gourley tax deduction and interest were calculated.