Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and the issues of immigration and work permits policy. Legislation in this area is not before time. The Employment Permits Bill 2005 aims primarily to allow the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to grant and refuse work permits and visas for a range of employment categories and to put a legal framework in place to accommodate such activity.

Ireland is a much changed place in the last 15 years and that process of change continues. There is a generation of young working people who are more ambitious and confident than their predecessors and who expect economic success unknown to previous generations. They are the people who will continue to drive the economy into the future. To sustain such progress, workers from abroad will be required. Within the EU, Ireland is seen as a model for success and people want to come here. As a result, there will be a continuation of the transit of skilled workers from other European countries to experience what we have to offer in terms of quality of life and the job opportunities we continue to create. This has been an inherently positive development. Outside the EU, we are seen as a small country with a large reputation. Ireland has the second highest income per capita in Europe, after Finland, and is seen as a wealthy place of opportunity.

A neutral person might believe I am speaking on behalf of the Government. I refer to the perception of Ireland abroad but there is no doubt that we are not without our problems. In essence, the issue we must deal with in the context of migration policy is the requirement for immigrant workers to facilitate the continued development of the economy. There are some 160,000 immigrant workers in Ireland, comprising 8% of the workforce, and this number will increase. At the same time, Ireland is a destination of choice for many workers and that is a significant advantage in our task. We must develop a sensible, practical and efficient means of aligning our requirement for skilled migrant workers with the desire of many people from other countries to come to Ireland. We have not been particularly successful in this regard heretofore.

The legislation proposes three pillars for migration policy, comprising three categories of worker which Ireland wants to attract and each of which will receive different treatment. The concept of attracting workers with a certain skills set to match requirements is welcome. However, I wish to use the opportunity of this debate to raise an issue that must be addressed urgently by the Government. One obvious skills shortage is in the area of medicine. The shortage of doctors is compounded by a third level medical education system which is a farce. The number of places in medicine available to Irish students is restricted because third level institutions are obliged to accommodate a quota of foreign students paying high fees to finance the courses they provide.

The many foreign students undertaking medical training in Ireland are welcome. However, many of them return home once their education is complete and take their expertise with them. The restriction on the numbers of Irish students taking medical courses is an issue that must be addressed. It may not be the direct responsibility of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment but it has a role to play in trying to persuade the Department of Education and Science to rectify this restrictive situation for Irish students. The only way to address this problem is by putting more resources into third level medical faculties so that institutions are not required to finance their training by charging foreign students high fees. Something must be done in this regard before we are obliged to recruit even more doctors and medical staff from abroad.

The first pillar of the proposed migration system is the introduction of green cards for people with skills in areas in which there is a shortage of qualified Irish workers. I strongly welcome the concept of a green card system. It is a facility that has been used successfully in other countries and it is not before time that it was introduced here. I object, however, to categorising workers according to ranges of earnings. I do not accept that the main skill set we need consists of those earning more than €60,000 per year. There are just as many sectors with average earnings between €30,000 and €60,000 in respect of which green cards are required. The message we may be sending out is that the more one earns, the more one is valued. I do not support such a policy.

However, the introduction of the green card system represents significant progress and I congratulate the Government in this regard. Green cards will allow workers to be mobile in terms of moving from one job to another within their skills set. This is long overdue as opposed to workers being tied to one employer and afraid to object if they are mistreated. I am happy to support the idea of a green card that allows a person to come here and work as long he or she is needed for his or her skill.

The second pillar does not need as much discussion. It is an obvious area that needed revamping. The re-establishment of inter-company transfer systems for temporary transnational management is necessary in a country that has so many foreign employers. Management goes into and out of companies in Ireland on a regular basis. Certainly the pharmaceutical sector in my constituency in Cork is a good example. It is right and proper to allow management move from one company to another should the need arise.

Pillar three, the meat of this policy, is a work permit scheme for a restricted list of occupants up to an earnings category of €30,000 per year where the shortage is of labour rather than skill. Is it being suggested that those who do not earn €30,000 are not skilled? It may be necessary to revise the language used. While I know what the Minister is trying to say, those who may be earning €27,000 or €28,000 per year may rightly ask if the skill they bring to the job is not valued. I do not know the answer to that question.

The cost for the first two-year work permit is €1,000 and for a further three-year work permit €1,500. Is there a cost for a green card and, if not, are green cards issued free of charge while there is a charge for work permits? If that is the case the issue needs to be analysed and rebalanced.

The application procedure to obtain a work permit has been a huge headache for my office in Cork as I am sure it has been many other Deputies. People who may be in Ireland on student visas or on holidays cannot apply for work permits while in Ireland. They need to return home before they can apply to come back again. Is that matter being addressed in the legislation and in the Minister's new plans for a new work permit system? It should be possible for a person who is studying in Ireland and has got a job, a skill that is required and a company that wishes to employ him or her, not to have to return to New Zealand, Australia or South Africa to apply through the embassy to come back to Ireland. That type of nonsense needs to be addressed in the legislation.

I understand why the Minister may have taken a restrictive approach in the past. There is, however, a need for a flexible system that allows a person who approaches the Department or an employer who wishes to employ him or her to transfer from a student visa to a work permit without the necessity to return home. I ask the Minister to address that issue in his concluding remarks.

The giving of the permit to the employee rather than the employer is welcome. This empowers the employee somewhat, although it does not solve the problem. If a person obtains a work permit he or she is still tied to the job unless he or she goes through the laborious procedure of reapplying for another work permit for another job. The work permit does not provide for labour mobility through the marketplace in the same way as a green card. Why not have a green card system the whole way through for each category? The Minister can still be restrictive as to whom they are issued. Let us have the same standards of mobility for a person who earns €60,000 or more and a person who earns €25,000 to enable the workforce move around.

For example, if a farm labourer is required for seasonal work he or she should be facilitated in doing that work through a work permit system. Even though that seasonal work may last only six months he or she may be able to slot into a different type of seasonal work on another farm for the other half of the year. Currently, to facilitate that type of work mobility that person, in co-operation with an employer, must apply for a new work permit for the second six months. That is a practical example but there are many more.

I welcome the fact the Government is toughening up on those who breach legislation in this area. Those who exploit migrant workers deserve to be treated toughly by Government. Not only have they no respect for those working for them but they have a competitive advantage over other companies which obey the law. That is unacceptable. The matter needs to be addressed by being tough and making an example of people, if necessary, so that the idea of exploiting migrant workers will not be countenanced. If new laws are introduced they will have to be enforced. Unfortunately, there are certain employers throughout the country who are laughing at us and who pay workers far less. That should not happen. I welcome the aspiration to toughen up.

On the delicate political issue of how asylum seekers are treated the Minister may say this is not an issue for his Department but rather for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I differ with the Minister on that issue. If the State cannot deal with an asylum seeker who has been in Ireland for six to eight months, that person should be allowed work under some form of restricted work permit system to enable them pay their own way. There are many asylum seekers who are highly skilled who are fleeing persecution but it takes the State four to five years to make a decision on their asylum application. In the meantime they have to live in a hostel or social housing when they could and want to pay their own way for themselves and their family.

An issue that promotes racism is that many asylum seekers who have been in Ireland for four our five years because the State cannot make a decision on their application have nothing to do and give the impression that there are far more of them. They are not integrating into society because they have no work. An opportunity is being missed at a time when many have a skill that will fit into the categories here.

An Olympic gymnast who had come to Ireland came to me and, like many who are economic migrants rather than asylum seekers, the only way she could remain here was to claim asylum. All will agree that the two issues of economic migrants and asylum seekers need to be separated. She wanted to make the transition from asylum to get a work permit. She was by far the most skilled gymnast in the country and people wanted to employ her in Cork to share her skills as a trainer. She had to be sent back to Romania, a process that took more than two months, where she relinquished her asylum application, applied for a work permit and eventually got back after much negotiation. She is a classic example of somebody who came here to seek asylum because that was the only avenue open to her. She then realised she had gone through the wrong channels, wished to seek a work permit and abandoned her claims for asylum. We should have a flexible system that can deal with such cases.

I am glad the Minister, Deputy Martin, has arrived in the Chamber. He probably did not hear my earlier remarks. While the Bill is welcome in general there are some issues we still need to address. One such issue concerns asylum seekers who have been here for six to eight months or more. The State knows it will take time to assess such asylum applications but if those people have a skills set that fits the categories we want, we should be able to facilitate that transition in their status. I do not buy into the argument that if we do so we will attract more and more asylum seekers, as some people claim.

The legislation is welcome and not before its time. I am not convinced, however, that we require three separate pillars. We could introduce a green card system for all categories and still be restrictive as regards the skills set we allow to work here. The benefit of that would be proper mobility throughout the work force for people, whether they earn €25,000 or €85,000 a year. We should allow proper work force mobility between jobs, rather than requiring people to re-visit the Department every time they want to change or have a problem with their employer.

See this speech in context