Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chair for his time and co-operation with this legislation. I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the Employment Permits Bill with the committee today along with the officials from the Department.

The purpose of the Bill is to consolidate and update the legislative provisions that regulate the employment permits system, namely, the Employment Permits Acts of 2003 and 2006, as amended in 2014. The conclusions contained in the Review of Economic Migration Policy 2018 endorsed the robust fundamental structure of the existing system. The review also recommended that new legislation be initiated to increase the responsiveness of the system, to modernise it and to ensure that it is capable of adapting to the changing needs of the labour market of the future. The changes proposed in the Bill will give effect to many of these recommendations, while retaining the key policy focus of supporting the economy and the labour market through evidence-based decision-making and ensuring the rights of migrant workers are protected.

Other new improvements include: the introduction of a seasonal employment permit; revision of the labour market needs test to make it more relevant and efficient; improved efficiency through moving operational criteria to regulations; providing for additional conditions for the grant of an employment permit such as training or accommodation support for migrant workers, business process innovation or upskilling to decrease future reliance on permits; and, importantly, automatic indexation of salary thresholds.

I am also proposing an amendment to the Bill that is designed to address the challenges in providing employment permits promptly to non-EEA nationals who take temporary employment as non-consultant hospital doctors, NCHDs, in public hospitals and public health facilities. These posts require the NCHD to undertake employment in a number of locations within the hospital system. The Bill provides for a new two-year multi-site general employment permit, GEP, to facilitate their multiple employment contracts during that two-year period so that they do not have to keep applying for new employment permits every six months. Further minor amendments in respect of NCHDs may be brought forward on Report Stage. This is something we tried in response to Covid. We worked with the Department of Health to make changes like this already and it is important we put the legislative framework in behind that as well.

The Bill also sets out the types of permit that will be available and broadly replicates those established in the existing Acts and includes the new seasonal employment permit added for seasonally recurring roles, that will be specified in regulations. The need for this permit type is borne out in submissions from the agriculture and horticulture sectors, as well as other organisations that have supported it.

Given that Ireland is an outlier internationally in not providing such a permit and in light of the broad welcome the proposal received in the public consultation on the general scheme, this type of permit is needed. Seasonal permit holders will fall under the protection of Ireland’s body of employment rights legislation, which protects all employees who are legally employed on an employer-employee basis, regardless of the work they do.

I am also mindful of concerns raised by committee members during pre-legislative scrutiny and in the various debates we have had. In recognition of those concerns, we are considering a significant range of protections for seasonal employment permit holders. Likely protections include: employers must get approval as seasonal employment permit-approved employers; seasonal workers having the ability to easily transfer their seasonal employment permit to another approved employer and a simplified renewal process that will offer low-cost renewals for multiple years; and accommodation being offered with any deductions from wages for it to be strictly limited. There is scope to tease through with members during today's debate, and before Report Stage, what they would like to see further included in that. The drafting of all our amendments and recommendations is not finished. I very happy to engage with members today and at a later stage on what we bring forward on Report Stage and in the regulations.

Further drafting work is required for this new permit type and further detail on this will be presented on Report Stage for consideration. An amendment to section 8 will also be brought forward on Report Stage with regard to international protection applicants catered for under Regulation No. 11 of the European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018. Permissions under the EC regulations do not in themselves confer the right to work. However, some of this cohort will, after six months, be eligible to apply for a permission to work from the Minister for Justice, without recourse to the employment permit system. A reference will be entered under section 8, which sets out the cohorts for whom an employment permit is not required. Again, that is something we worked on with the Department of Justice over the past number of months.

I also acknowledge the concerns from members of the committee on the requirement in our Bill for permit holders to remain with their first employer for 12 months before they can easily move. I have instructed my officials to consult stakeholders on this matter with the intention of reducing this time period on Report Stage. Some of that consultation has already happened. Members of the committee had some deep concerns on that, which they brought to our attention. We are willing to look and try to address that on Report Stage with the intention of reducing that timeframe from 12 months.

Following the debate on Second Stage, I asked my officials to consider the legal and operational implications of allowing all general employment permit holders, and critical skills employment permit holders, to transfer their employment permits to a new employer in a much easier manner in future compared with what is happening at present, and do so through a much more streamlined process. Nearly all of those present were at one in seeking that. We will try to accommodate that. We do not have it ready on Committee Stage but we will work with members to have that ready on Report Stage. It would be a fundamental alteration of our employment permit system, but we believe it is one that merits further investigation ahead of Report Stage to try to get the balance right. I thank Deputies for their contributions on the Bill so far. I look forward to our discussion.