Liz O'Donnell (Dublin South, Progressive Democrats)

It is interesting that this is one of two Bills from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment before the Dáil this week. These Bills closely reflect our changing society, specifically in respect of our working lives. The Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill responds to the pressure of today's working family and the ways in which we are trying to achieve a balance between work and life. This Employment Permits Bill is a direct response to our dynamic society, population and workforce.

This Government does not take current economic success for granted. Employment is central to our growth and sustaining employment is a central plank of this Government's policy. It follows that employment rights and work permits must be tailor-made to suit that policy. At times we must calibrate policy to fit in to our overall objective of sustaining our economy and prosperity.

People were appalled at claims that a Filipino was hired to work on a ship for just over €1 per hour and that money due to Turkish workers was paid into Dutch bank accounts without their knowledge. This Bill aims to protect all workers, particularly vulnerable migrant workers, many of whom live under the media radar in this country but who are essential for our sustained economic growth.

The most significant social change that has happened in the last eight to ten years is the virtual eradication of unemployment and its companion, mass emigration. Since 1997 the numbers working in Ireland has increased by more than 450,000 people to a total of almost 2 million. Unemployment has been reduced from 11% to 4.2%, which is a state of virtually full employment. Long-term unemployment has been reduced from 6% to 1.4%. The reality behind this is an enormous reduction in poverty. A recent ESRI report shows that the poverty rate in Ireland dropped from 17.45% in 1994 to 4.7% in 2001. A major factor driving this reduction was the growth in employment. We have turned from mass emigration in this country to net inward migration.

For centuries Ireland provided cheap labour and goods to Britain and even after independence was achieved, significant levels of emigration continued over decades. Irish people made their homes in the world's strongest economies, namely, Britain, the United States and other English speaking countries. Today we are one of the strongest economies in the world and, understandably, we have become a destination for immigrants to make homes and new lives among us. Moving from monocultural homogeneity to a multicultural context has been a challenge for Ireland. Our society is still adjusting and has moved from a fearful hesitancy towards newcomers to a welcome recognition of the benefits that accrue from these newcomers in terms of labour and cultural diversity.

There are many people in Ireland who fear the change but they fail to recognise the value and positive influence of cultural and racial change in Ireland. They are blind to the fact that we need migrant workers to sustain prosperity that is fuelling everything else in modern Ireland, including services, infrastructure and individual prosperity for our citizens.

The ESRI and others have pointed out the need for migrant labour to meet the workforce demand in our buoyant economy. The percentage of firms reporting vacancies increased during the first three months of 2005, reaching 10% in March. If we continue our pro-enterprise policies, strong economic growth will continue into the foreseeable future. Economic growth, as measured by real GDP, is forecast to grow by 5.7% in 2005 and by 5% in 2006. Much of that growth depends on the contribution of migrant workers. While EU nationals, nationals of the European economic area and Swiss nationals require no visa or permit to live and work in Ireland, others must seek such permission.

The Employment Permits Act 2003 provided for those procedures and the vast majority of non-EU and EEA migrant workers enter Ireland on those employment permits. Under that system it is the employer, not the would-be employee, who applies for the permit. As I recall, that was motivated by a desire to control the labour market and linked economic migration to labour force needs. That was an appropriate policy objective at the time. Sadly, widespread abuse of that system has been reported, including agencies providing workers with fake permits for non-existent jobs, workers forced into indentured labour and signing away future earnings. This may even happen before they have left their own country. Workers may receive less than the promised wage, less than the minimum wage, and have illegal deductions from salaries and so on. A large part of the problem, according to the Immigrant Council of Ireland, is that the employer effectively controls the employment permit. The worker is not free to sell his or her labour in the marketplace and may feel intimidated from making any complaints about such grievances and-or exploitation.

Apart from these reported abuses, the current restrictive and cautious immigration system reflects an earlier period when the country attracted very few migrants. We know the situation has changed utterly in recent years. While the system has been commended for being flexible, it does not do enough to protect workers and their families and has become extremely burdensome and overly bureaucratic for employers. Everything we do should be tested for its impact on enterprise and keeping jobs growing in the country. It is important that we are able to calibrate this work permit legislation and other related legislation to meet the needs of the day. The difficulty appears to be about who controls the permit and how best to protect the rights and entitlements of these migrant workers. Under this Bill, the employment permits will in future issue to the employee and the permit will state certain rights and entitlements of the worker concerned. The Bill bans the practice of deducting money related to recruitment from earnings and it will also prohibit employers retaining a worker's personal documents.

This Government wants to ensure effective monitoring of the working conditions of all persons with work visas. Enforcement will be a key aspect. The labour inspectorate of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is responsible for monitoring employment conditions for all categories of workers in Ireland. We need more inspectors well resourced to pursue allegations of worker mistreatment and, when evidence of non-compliance is found action must be taken. In this regard I welcome the agreement to recruit an additional ten labour inspectors to the labour inspectorate, as well as a manger. Enforcement will be key. It will be the proof of this legislation if migrant workers feel protected by our domestic legislation. These measures should strengthen the capacity to ensure that workers are protected and will act as a preventative measure to prevent abuse as has happened in the past.

I note the Department has produced a series of information leaflets in nine languages about employment rights legislation in Ireland. That is to be welcomed. The languages covered are Chinese, Czech, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Brazilian, Portuguese, Romanian and Russian reflecting, interestingly, the real diversity of the modern workforce in Ireland. I assume those leaflets will be updated to take account of the new workers' protection provisions.

Debate on a Bill like this inevitably raises issues of global migration and the challenges posed to the rich countries of the north, like Ireland. With the enlargement of the European Union to the east, it was presumed at the time that most of our non-national labour force needs would be met from that source. That is not so. We still need non-EU migrants. Labour constraints persist in certain services sectors, for example, the catering and hospitality industries. In the wider sense the levels of poverty and lack of opportunity in Africa and other regions of the developing world make mass economic migration from these areas predictable, foreseeable and, in the light of our own experience, understandable.

Many people in developed countries, including Ireland, bemoan and at times even resent inward migration but I believe it is very much a part of the human condition. Perhaps the most compelling human instinct, apart from procreation, is the desire to make a better life for one's family when there is no opportunity at home. We know that from our own memory of mass migration over the generations.

When we discuss the welfare and rights of migrant workers in Ireland, it is easy to forget the families and communities those people have left behind, as so many of our own people have done over the years. As we put in place these protections for our migrant workers, we must also aim our foreign policy, in terms of joined up Government, towards working for a fairer world order, including the minimisation of population displacement and refugee flows from the developing world. That will be done by an enlightened foreign policy and development co-operation. Our current model of development co-operation is widely acclaimed in that it helps to build sustainable economic and human development in poor countries. We focus our programme on the poorest of the poor in the world. As we are aware, wars, chronic poverty, natural disasters, as we have seen recently, and lack of opportunity produce mass movements of people seeking refuge and economic opportunity in developed countries.

Political refugees have separate protection under our domestic legislation and internationally under the Geneva Convention. Sadly, in Ireland migrants and refugees have become interchangeable and blurred terms. Many refugees are economic migrants and because our asylum and economic migration systems were unresolved, the asylum system had become swamped and abused by those seeking a better life. Many people claiming asylum were economic migrants but had no way of coming here legally and sought the only access point, that is, through the refugee asylum system. That is not good for the asylum system because it clogs it up and makes it more difficult for genuine asylum seekers to receive the protection to which they are entitled under international law.

I welcome the fact that this Bill is before the House. A modern, progressive migration system is long overdue and must be separate from asylum in terms of process and policy. We have been playing catch-up on many fronts, both in terms of refugees and asylum, and on economic migration policy but it is now beginning to take shape and as it does, Members of this House and Ministers across all Departments must see around corners and put in place measures to integrate and make welcome the new arrivals. That will not happen by chance. It is a function of Government policy across all those Departments that have an impact on the people who arrive here and who have diverse and different needs to be serviced. We must start planning for the best way forward in terms of integration policy.

Because we are starting late compared with the rest of Europe, we can have the benefit of others' hindsight. We have a small population by any standard, although it has risen above 4 million for the first time since 1871. Our birth rate is above the EU average and our inward migration is steady and healthy, given our needs. This demographic change poses challenges here in housing, education and health. Across all Departments wise people should plan for the best outcomes, hopefully without the help of consultants. In terms of integration many, indeed most, will become Irish citizens. In regard to integration we should emulate the United States rather than the United Kingdom or other countries. These newcomers must in time feel proud to be Irish, as well as proud of their former countries. They should have an allegiance to Ireland if they are to become citizens here and live with us permanently. Integration need not mean absorption and abandonment of their culture but their allegiance must be to Ireland.

I would not like to see large ethnic groups living in a parallel world within Ireland. We have seen the dangers posed by fundamentalist Islam in the United Kingdom for example. We must be vigilant in this regard and avoid the ghettoisation of ethnic and religious groups here where grievance and a sense of disconnectedness from Ireland, the host country, and its institutions can foment.

Irish-Americans and other ethnic groups in the United States are first and foremost Americans. They swear allegiance to that great country yet never relinquish their ethnic identity and race memory of their homeland. I would like the new Irish here to cleave to and show allegiance to our nation, to enjoy the benefits of our new prosperity and opportunity. That happy outcome requires far-thinking and progressive ministerial planning now.

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