A Brazilian man working at a Galway company assumed that, because he was married to an Irish woman and had four Irish children, he was entitled to work in the country without obtaining the necessary documentation.
However, when inspectors checked with the company where he was employed, they discovered there was no permit in place which allowed him to work.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC ) brought a prosecution against Woodfarm Fencing Supplies, based in Ahascragh, at Ballinasloe District Court.
The charge was employing the Brazilian man while no valid work permit was in place.
The defence explained to Judge James Faughnan that the individual involved assumed that, because he was married to an Irish woman and had four Irish-born children, he didn’t need a work permit. He had previously obtained a temporary work permit and everything was now regularised.
Woodfarm Fencing Supplies was previously fined €150 when convicted of a similar offence in 2015.
Judge Faughnan was informed that the company had 70 employees and that all was now regularised.
He imposed a fine of €500 plus WRC costs of €738.
