The Taoiseach has described as "extraordinary" claims that workers in dispute at Greyhound Waste have been asked to take cuts of up to €270 a week.

Enda Kenny has also questioned if workers brought in by the company are properly licensed - adding that he will see that inspectors from the National Employment Rights Authority are contacted.

He has suggested that the dispute also needs to be referred to the Labour Relations Commission.

United Left Alliance TD Clare Daly made the allegations in the Dail.

The company has sought a High Court order to put a stop to what they describe as a blockade by staff at their Clondalkin plant in west Dublin. The court has heard over 60 of its waste workers are protesting over pay and conditions.

The court heard the industrial dispute centres on a recent Labour Court recommendation reducing staff pay.

Greyhound which collects waste from 110,000 households in Dublin says it is also concerned that this protest is being wrongly characterised as a 'lockout'.