Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This will be a very positive and progressive action. We spoke about labour market access but the directive includes important provisions on the rights of children in respect of health and education. The Government has decided to go beyond what is simply required of it in the matter of the Supreme Court decision. As part of the opt-in procedure, we are going beyond the parameters of the Supreme Court in order to incorporate the directive, which will be seen as a very positive move. The issue of sectors of employment is one the implementation group is carefully considering. Under the directive, member states must provide for what is described as "effective access to the labour market". I do not disagree with what Deputy Ó Laoghaire said. While regard will be had to what are described as "labour market gaps", there will also be consideration of the skills sets of applicants and those seeking employment. I am anxious to ensure that every effort is made to create a broadly based scheme. We are anxious to ensure that the temporary scheme in the interim period will reflect as closely as possible what the directive allows. We will not be required to introduced primary legislation because of the opt-in which will be done by way of statutory instrument. The implementation group is working on these areas. Obviously, this goes beyond the Department of Justice and Equality and there is also an important role for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation. The current review is expected to be finalised in April. I assure the committee that eligible applicants will also have access to self-employment. I mentioned in my speech the importance of vocational training which is not currently available.