David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for the work they are doing and for being here. Apologies for being late. I had a Topical Issue in the Chamber and had to be there during the initial part of the witnesses’ presentation. I hope they understand and I apologise.

Senator Sherlock mentioned the Open Doors Initiative. I am on the board of that initiative. It is an employers-led organisation. We do quite an amount of work helping employers, first of all, to engage people from a marginalised background, and also helping refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, people with disabilities, disadvantaged youth, Travellers, Roma, people with LGBTI issues, people who have a criminal past, and intersectionality between those groups, to get jobs. I am not sure if the groups in front of us have engaged with the Open Doors Initiative but it is employer-led and it is really trying.

Last year we issued more than 40,000 work permits, bringing people in from abroad. We are technically at full employment. Beyond full employment is a term that has been used recently. It is timely we are discussing the issue of people who are finding it hard to get jobs.

I have a sticky question to ask. I met an employer recently who was frustrated because he had offered a job to three people. The job was way above the minimum wage and not onerous work but they all refused. They did not want to take the job. I tabled a parliamentary question yesterday and got a response. I wanted to know what happens if people refuse work and so on. I was told that this year to date, 7,294 people have received penalties from the Department of Social Protection for not engaging with the employment services or not taking up offers of employment. Last year, the number was 5,000, so this year so far, the number is up. Why might that be the case? Has any research been done into why such numbers of people are still refusing jobs and refusing to work at a time when employers are frustrated trying to get people to work for them and they are coming to us, begging for work permits? What can be done about that?