The Employment Appeals Tribunal today awarded €80,000 each to three staff at one of the embassies in Dublin for the dreadful way they had been treated. They were working 15 hours a day, seven days a week for €170 a month. That follows a case last year in which the Labour Court awarded €46,000 to another embassy worker. The Migrant Rights Centre commented on the case. It stated:

It is shameful and unfair that she has been denied access to her rights. This is a persistent problem, but the Department of Foreign Affairs is still dragging its heels.

Knowing the credentials of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in these matters, I wonder if there is a case to ask him to publicise what "diplomatic" means and does not mean in this country in the way of treatment of staff.