The Government has pledged to restore legally binding wage-setting mechanisms by next spring in an attempt to avoid exploitation of workers.
Last May, previous legislation governing hundreds of thousands of workers was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Minister of State for Business and Employment Ged Nash said restoring the Registered Employment Agreement system was a priority for the Government.
He said it was important for both employers and employees that there should be certainty about labour costs to ensure workers were adequately remunerated for their work, and a level playing pitch when tendering for work.
Minister for Education Jan O'Sullivan acknowledged that the legislation would be important in the education sector due to the large school building programme that is under way.
Ms O'Sullivan declined to comment when asked about reports of breaches of pay rates and alleged bogus subcontracting, noting that this issue was before the courts.
She said the Department of Education carries out an audit system for projects commissioned by them, adding that if issues are discovered around compliance, they are reported to the appropriate authorities.
Ms O'Sullivan added that when it came to issues around self-employment and sub-contracting, there had been a number of referrals to the Revenue Commissioners, adding that the Department of Social Protection and the National Employment Rights Authority also have a role to play.
The two ministers were asked about the fact that the REA system would only protect direct employees, and would do nothing for anyone forced into bogus self-employment with lower rates and less protection.
Mr Nash said the REA would improve standards across the industry and that it had to look at the wider standards across industry.
Ms O'Sullivan also said there is an ongoing audit of the Kishogue school site, where the JJ Rhatigan construction company is accused of breaches of employment standards, adding that the audit would continue throughout the construction process.
She could not say what conclusions they had come to but said if there were issues appropriate for referral they would be referred.
