A Filipino diplomat to Ireland has been accused of hiring a domestic worker for just €25 ($34) a week, according to the Irish Independent.

The Filipina woman traveled to Ireland with the diplomat in 2009 and was contracted to work as a maid.  She was employed by the diplomat, who is based at the country’s embassy on St Stephen's Green in Dublin, and not by the embassy.

The woman left the job after six months and has filed an employment case, with the support of the Migrant Rights Centre, over her terms and conditions.

John Ferris, the former Philippines honorary consul in Ireland, wrote a letter to the chairwoman of the Labour Relations Commission, Breege O'Donoghue, about the case, and has criticized the embassy's response to the row.

Mr Ferris wrote that it was "shameful and unfair that domestic workers employed by diplomats are being denied access to their basic rights."

"She came with one of the embassy staff from Manila. I believe she was paid €25 a week, had to work enormous hours and wasn't allowed to use hot water during the winter," he said.

Ferris wrote the letter after discovering that no representative from the embassy had attended a rights commissioner hearing on the pay complaint.

In a statement released on Friday, the embassy's consul general, Hjayceelyn Quintana, said it was in discussions with the Department of Foreign Affairs about the dispute.

"This is a situation that has arisen between two Filipino citizens and an agreement between them executed in the Philippines," the statement said.

"Neither of the two persons are residents of Ireland but are in Ireland on the basis of a special type of visa under arrangement with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.

"The embassy has exerted and continues to exert efforts for the two Filipino citizens to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to address the situation."