A Kerry senator is calling for the regulation of agencies who advertise tradespersons' positions online.
Fianna Fáil senator Ned O’Sullivan claims rogue operators are abusing the system by hiding behind agencies without having to produce any credentials.
He says, in a small minority of cases, tradespeople claim to offer professional services in a broad range of categories but then either fail to do the work or it's substandard.
Senator O'Sullivan claims that agencies do not help people who fall victim to these scams.
The Kerry senator says once the money is taken by the scammers, they are uncontactable and no recourse is available to the affected customer.
He says websites should be obliged to verify that the tradespeople provide a professional service, as advertised.
Senator O’Sullivan outlines how scam tradespeople operate.
