Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the three groups for their presentations.

I have two short questions, but the witnesses from TASC will be relieved that I have none for them. Can our guests from USI, for information purposes, tell us what percentage of the student population actually has to work a job of some description while attending third level education? If the witnesses have that figure to hand, it may be helpful.

To our contributors from the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, the whole issue of the undocumented, as raised by Deputy Quinlivan, is a major part of the problem with regard to precarious employment. Deputy Quinlivan cited 25,000 or 26,000 undocumented people. It may even be higher. The witnesses mentioned up to 30,000 at one stage. In any case, it represents a significant number of people working in the labour market. As we know, many of those work in the shadow economy. That has all sorts of other implications with regard to driving down rates of pay, social insurance contributions, revenue contributions and so on. The witnesses will recall that we offered legislation during the term of the last Dáil in the form of a scheme to regularise the undocumented. It would help if we regularised our undocumented. I had people in my clinic on Monday morning seeking it again. It is a huge elephant in the room. Can the witnesses tell us where they are, since they have been to the fore of this campaign, with the present Government and with the Department of Justice and Equality? It does not actually come under this committee's remit, because it is about immigration. Where are we with having a scheme to regularise the community of undocumented people? If those people are regularised, it will play a major part because they are being exploited by some employers, because they know they are undocumented.