Social Affairs Minister Séamus Brennan has said construction companies should not get State contracts if they don't comply fully with their pension requirements.
Mr Brennan said he had suggested this in a letter to the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, who was now considering the issue.
It emerged last week that around 130,000 construction workers are not covered for pensions, life assurance or sick pay because their employers were categorising them falsely as self-employed to evade paying their full entitlements.
Mr Brennan said he was determined to stamp out the practice and a good place to start was by saying to the companies that they were not getting any State contracts.
The minister was speaking on the Week in Politics, which will be broadcast on RTÉ One at 11.30pm tonight.
