Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This amendment to amend section 8 of the Bill will insert a new subsection (i) into section 6 of the 2006 Act to require that information, documents and evidence pertaining to a position that was the subject of a redundancy be submitted upon application.

To provide greater context, this goes back to previous amendments. Amendments Nos. 18 and 19, respectively, define the date of dismissal and dismissal by reason of redundancy, in terms of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967. This is required in the context of provisions in section 22 of the Bill dealing with holders of critical skills employment permits and general employment permits who have been made redundant, as well as provisions in section 7 of the Bill that prohibit an employment permit application being made where the employment concerned was the subject of redundancy in the preceding six months.

To provide further clarification on amendment No. 40, it ensures that employment permits are not issued in respect of vacancies that have arisen through or were positions subject to redundancy in the preceding six months. It is designed to prevent the possibility of an employer making existing staff redundant in order to replace them with non-EEA nationals. It is important that the legislation has safeguards against distortions to the labour market. This is one such safeguard.

Amendment No. 45 adds a requirement that information regarding any recent redundancies which may relate to a vacancy for which an application is being made be submitted as part of the employment permit.