Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The conditions pertaining to the issue of a permit under the new section 3A are all mandatory. This is to deter abuses of the proposed reactivation employment permit. An application cannot be considered if the foreign national does not meet all of the criteria. Deputy Tóibín's amendment would result in an additional mandatory provision that very few foreign nationals would be able to meet - that is, only foreign nationals who have entered into civil proceedings, which would significantly narrow the field of potential applicants under this permit type. The Minister's intention in creating this type of employment permit is to facilitate those foreign nationals who have fallen out of the employment permit system to re-enter employment in line with employment permits legislation. It is not a back door for illegal economic migrants who have not been, or would not be under current legislation, granted employment permits. An amendment to facilitate this would run counter to the Government's broad policy on employment permits. It is on that basis that I cannot accept this amendment.