John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the legislation. I compliment the Minister on the way he addressed this issue in a very clear and concise way. This legislation is about reform of the way we deal with employment permits and makes it more focused on our ever increasing needs and demands. I will not go into the same level of detail as the Minister but we had four work permits, which will be replaced by nine. The green card has gone and will be replaced by a critical skills employment permit. I welcome the reactivation employment permit for those whose permits expire or whose work come to an end.

I compliment Senator Quinn for initiating this back in November 2012. It was quite clear Mohammed Younis was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. He was exploited by an employer for seven years and when he brought it to the attention of the authorities, the rights commissioner found in his favour but that was overruled by the High Court and as a result, this young man was not in a position to get compensation. If this issue arises following the enactment of this legislation, compensation will be available.

I agree with Senator White about the Garth Brooks debacle but I do not think he was refused a visa to come to this country. However, I know of a man who is having great difficulty getting a visa to come to this country. He is not looking for a work permit. He is an Iraqi-born businessman who has lived in Saudi Arabia all his life. He is an extremely wealthy man and he has highlighted the need for at least 40,000 houses in Saudi Arabia. A company in Galway manufactures these houses, which are affordable, and it has a showroom in Monaghan. This man needs to visit Ireland for four days to visit the showroom. He applied for a visa but was refused. The reason he was refused is that in 2008, GMIT invited him to speak in the college. When he applied for a visa, the courier in Saudi Arabia delivered his application to the British Embassy by mistake. He was refused a visa by the British Embassy so when he applied for a visa to visit Ireland, he was refused because he had been previously refused a visa by another embassy in 2008.

This is not directly the responsibility of this Minister but there is supposed to be inter-departmental co-operation between the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I suggest the Minister should have a greater role in cases like this because there seems to be a view that when somebody from a Middle Eastern country is looking for a visa that they have ulterior motives for being for doing so.

I assure the House the individual in question does not have an ulterior motive. He wants to invest millions of euro in an Irish company and create jobs but is being blocked from doing so by the Department of Justice and Equality. It takes between 12 and 14 weeks for that Department to make a decision on a visa application. An applicant may then be refused on the basis that there is history. Further, a return ticket is not considered sufficient evidence that an individual plans to return home. What type of evidence does the Department expect people to produce? Jobs are a major issue. I hope the Minister will take a hands on approach to the Department of Justice and Equality and ensure the circumstances I describe are not repeated.