Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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I will quote from the first recommendation in the committee's report. It states:

The Committee has not seen sufficient evidence to support the proposed introduction of a Seasonal Employment Permit, and it is also concerned about the lack of detail in the proposal.

[...]

The protections and provisions under the existing General Employment Permit scheme must not be diminished, and workers’ rights must not be undermined.

We have before us, however, an approach by the Government of emphasising flexibility for employers and, with this scheme, opening up a carte blanchefor employers in certain sectors, such as fruit picking and hospitality, to treat migrant workers like tools who can be brought in for a few relevant months, exploited as good as they possibly can be, and then off they go without a second thought at the end of the season.

I am interested to hear the Minister's response but I do not see how such a system of seasonal exploitation, which is what it is, is not designed purely for the benefit of the employers and leaves workers in a weak situation, without the ability to organise or integrate. They are just there to be exploited for a few months. The Minister says we are going to introduce protections and whatever else. I am interested to hear about those. However, the purpose of a seasonal employment scheme is for these low-paid sectors to get extra cheap labour in for a short period of time without the danger of the employees getting organised and fighting to improve their terms and conditions.