Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I wish to refer to several sections of this Bill. In section 8(2)(c) the Bill requires a statement of requirements under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000. A number of workers in the construction industry, the hotel industry and agriculture will be covered under a registered employment agreement or statutory instruments setting out terms and conditions, including wages, of employment. I am anxious that this be done and ask Minister to amend the legislation so that where a collective agreement or a rate of pay and terms and conditions are specified by the statutory instrument, the permit will specify compliance with same. When the permit is issued everything in respect of pay and conditions should be in order. As it is proposed to issue permits on the basis of economic areas, I see no reason this cannot be specified in the work permit.

The Minister may also consider the case where a permit has been issued to an employer. In this case the employer should have to specify whether any order has been made under the Industrial Relations Act 1990 to take account of recent high-profile breaches of Industrial Relations Acts. Under that Act the Labour Court has specified rates of pay above the national minimum wage. In addition, an employer should have to specify if any agreement has been agreed with any union designating rates of pay above the national minimum wage.

Those bringing claims on behalf of foreign workers find that registered employment agreements or rates of pay specified under statutory instruments of the Industrial Relations Act 1990 that have not been recorded as registered employment agreements are not being followed. Agreements reached, such as higher rates of pay agreed in the Labour Court or through industrial relations, are not being followed in respect of foreign workers. By limiting the reference to the National Minimum Wage Act there may be a number of sectors where the employee believes he or she is only entitled to the minimum wage but may in fact be entitled to more.

The timescale referred to in section 16 seems very short. Some 14 days are provided to lodge a submission to review a decision to refuse. This could be increased as obtaining all the information needed to lodge a review might take more than 14 days. A situation similar to that of An Bord Pleanála might be the appropriate timescale, where everyone can avail of 21 or 28 days.

The matter of making oral presentations has not been addressed in this section. Could this be possible in the same way there is an oral hearing in the planning process? This may take time and may clog the system but the Minister must take this into account.

Section 25 relates to retention of records for work permit applications and also in respect of all foreign workers. In practice, this may create significant difficulties for businesses. In the case of workers that do not require a work permit there would be a significant additional burden on Irish business in complying with rules and regulations. It would mean retaining additional documentation, even for workers who do not normally require a permit. It would mean that an Irish employer employing an English national would have to maintain records under this Act even though a work permit is not required. This is my interpretation of the section. I appreciate that this is relevant in respect of work permits but if it is going to create significant additional and unnecessary costs, EU workers could be made exempt from this provision.

In section 27 the amendment to the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851——

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