A company that hired two foreign nationals in the absence of a work permit had the charges against them struck out at Gort District Court.

ARD Precision (IRL) Limited, with a registered address of Barratreana, Ardrahan was before the court accused of gainfully employing two Indian nationals without a legally required work permit.

Edward Leahy, solicitor on behalf Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, told the court that the engineering firm was visited by the Workplace Relations Commission in March 2022.

During the course of this visit, it was discovered that two employees of the company were working without a permit, said Mr Leahy.

Defending solicitor John Nash said the two employees in question had been transferred from a company in Birr, Co Offaly, and had been employed by ARD in the belief that everything was being done correctly.

The company had paid a €1,000 fee as part of the process and it was only when the inspector called that they were alerted that foreign nationals on a work permit could not be transferred from one business to another, said Mr Nash.

“They didn’t know they were doing anything wrong – in fact, they thought they were doing everything right,” he said.

Mr Leahy said ARD had cooperated fully with the investigation.

It was open to the court to impose a fine of up to €5,000, said the prosecuting solicitor, and the State was seeking €615 in fees.

Judge Mary Larkin ordered that the State’s fees be paid by ARD, but struck out the case against the company saying it had been a lesson for all involved.