Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The best way of answering that is to say that this legislation provides for a seasonal permit. It does not grant it to any sector individually. We have the legislation and we have regulations. As with every other operation of the permits, if any particular sector is looking for access to permits, we go through exactly what Deputy Nash said about the home care sector. We analyse it, research it and work with the sector. That sector repeatedly came looking for permits over a couple of years. The unit pushed back very strongly. The evidence was not there to back that up. Employers in any other sector need to gather the evidence to show it is needed and is the only option. They also need to outline the changes they propose to make so that they are not reliant on permits forever into the future. Later today we will have the formal launch of that report and we will talk about it in the home care sector. A request has been submitted for permits in the short term while other measures are put in place. With the majority of sectors that approach is looking for permits. The same conversation goes on; the same analysis needs to happen. The relevant parent Department needs to be involved in making recommendations.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine has made this proposal for seasonal permits. The 2018 report highlighted that this was needed and that the evidence was there. We are providing for it in legislation and each employer needs to make the case for it. We are not giving a blank cheque to anybody to go and do this; they need to go through the process. That is why I suggested one way of doing this might be to trial it.

We believe there is a demand for it but that needs to be proven for each individual sector. We know that certain sectors only have seasonal work. We cannot expect somebody to have a full-time job for work that is only there for three months. We need to be honest about that. Seasonal work has traditionally happened. I fully accept that we need to put protections in place. However, we need to recognise that certain sectors cannot justify giving a 12-month contract. They need to make their own case. I am not here to speak for any particular sector. We are putting in place the option for a seasonal permit and then we can work through that process.

Many organisations have a view on this. I read what the International Organization for Migration had to say because I regard it as having expertise in this area. It has an office in Ireland and is represented throughout the world. It regards it as acceptable to have a seasonal permit but it is very clear that it needs to be with strong conditions attached. That is something we are prepared to do. I am prepared to work with the committee on that. I accept that people have a view on this. I am not here to change people's minds. I am here to explain why we think they are necessary. We are asking that there be an option in the legislation to reflect the 2018 review of economic migration policy which showed that there is a clear demand for a time-limited permission for lower skilled workers of a seasonal nature. This legislation came about on foot of that review group. I accept that this committee has consistently held the view that they are not needed, but there are other views on that as well.

To allay people's fears, I assure members that we will put all the protections in place. I am very happy to work with the committee on those. Of course, there will be ongoing monitoring. The WRC work plan for next year is on my desk. I need to look through it when I get a chance to see what it is requesting. We will try to respond to its requests on this and ensure the resources are there to strengthen its team and have inspectors in place. The WRC inspectors target certain areas of concern and that will give certain results. If we bring changes to this in any area and there are any concerns, of course, we can track them and assign the WRC greater responsibilities to focus on that if needs be.

However, we need to bear in mind that the overwhelming majority of employers are good decent people who find it hard to attract staff. They are trying to run businesses and at different times of the year need people and need talent. They are willing to finance that to pay people and adhere to all the laws of the State and all the terms and conditions. We should not exclude them because there are areas of concern. We put in place protections to deal with those rogue employers like everybody else has. We need to recognise the majority are not rogue employers when we introduce legislation.