Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I compliment Deputy Joe Higgins on the stand he took for migrant workers in this country and on how he fought for them. We talked in this House for a long time about the abuse of migrant workers in this country. We are the greatest hypocrites in the world. There is no Member of this House who has not had a relative who had to go abroad, either to England, America or Australia. It is not too many years ago in this country that we had judges offering people before the courts the choice between Australia and jail. At that time we were glad to get rid of as many people as possible from this country. It is not long since we had Ministers in this House saying that it was good and important for the country to get as many people as possible out of this State because we could not provide them with employment.

The tide has turned. I never thought we would see in this country, particularly in my county of Mayo, so many workers taking up work which our people will not do. Deputy Joe Higgins has previously pointed out in this House that migrant workers must be protected. We are great in this House for bringing in wonderful legislation but the problem is that we do no more than bring it in. We have nobody to monitor it. The only time legislation is monitored in this House and there are sufficient people to deal with it is when there is money to be collected for the Government. In that case, sufficient staff will be put in place.

The most important part of this Bill relates to the protection of workers, especially migrant workers. There is no point in pretending they are not being used and abused in this country. Shame on the employers involved. They should look back to our past when many Irish people took up menial jobs in America and were used and abused there. Irish people built roads in America but now Irish immigrants to that country are refused driving licences. We look for protection for our illegal emigrants in America and elsewhere but we are not prepared to protect people who come to this country to take up employment.

For three years, a Latvian woman worked in my town who saved money, returned home twice each year and presented no burden to the State. She made an application to bring her husband and ten year old child to Ireland because she could no longer remain apart from them. She did not want the State to pay for them but she was refused on the basis she did not have sufficient money to support them. Unlike many Irish people who squander money on alcohol and cigarettes, she worked hard and saved. However, she had to leave the country because the family could not remain here. The hotel for which she worked was upset to lose her because she was a good worker.

There is nothing in this legislation to support people who are willing to work rather than look for social welfare and who want to live in this country with their families. The woman's husband would have easily found employment and would not have been a burden on the State. All the couple wanted was a work permit or a visa to allow the husband come here but we would not provide either. We are the most hypocritical country in the world. We want everybody to look after us but are not prepared to help these people. We should accept a proportion of the illegal immigrants that we deport every day. Appropriate legislation should be introduced to ensure such people are protected.

I was disappointed with the provisions in this Bill on work permits, which should be given to the employee rather than the employer so that, if the former is unhappy or is sought by another company, he or she will have the opportunity to move on. Otherwise, it is like putting these people in jail because the employer can retain the permit and use the threat of deportation to force the employee to work unsuitable hours. That matter should have been addressed.

If an immigrant receives six consecutive work permits while working for the same employer, he or she can then apply for citizenship. This requirement should be reduced to three years because an employee will have established a record and paid PRSI and tax during that period and will have proved that he or she is prepared to remain in this country.

What are we going to do to protect migrant workers? Will we employ more inspectors and give them more powers to enter places of employment to ensure employees are treated appropriately? The transport industry abuses migrant workers by making them drive vehicles for more hours than is legal. Employers falsely advise drivers that they will be protected if they are caught. I hope the inspectorate will investigate this area.

People are coming to this country who want to make a living and they should be protected. However, rather than protect people, this Bill will make it more difficult to work here. That should not be the case because while the population is increasing, insufficient Irish people are prepared to work in certain sectors, such as the services industry. We should be delighted that people want to work here, many of whom are well educated but cannot find work in their own countries. It is good for the country.

What will we do in terms of inspectors? Will we appoint more people and give them greater powers? Will they ensure that migrant workers are protected? Deputy Joe Higgins correctly noted that the events with regard to Gama were scandalous. Similar situations exist that we do not know about. That company came here from Turkey and abused the Irish system and did not pay its workers proper wages until the courts dealt with the issue. I hope we will never allow such a situation to develop again. We should remember the treatment abroad of Irish workers. We were not able to resolve their problems. It would be terrible if we allowed employers to bring people to Ireland on work permits and then abuse them.

An information document should be given to migrant workers alongside their work permit which would advise them where to make a complaint if they are abused or their rights are not met. Such a provision should be introduced on Committee Stage. Some migrant workers have poor English and require time to become accustomed to Ireland. It would not cost a fortune to provide information to them.

Irish employers threaten to hire workers from abroad to reduce their wage costs. While unemployment was once a significant issue in this country, we are now told there is almost full employment. Workplaces in which large numbers of migrant workers are employed should be inspected on a regular basis to enforce appropriate pay levels and conditions and to ensure workers are not used as an excuse. This year, a number of complaints were heard in Westport and other tourism destinations in terms of difficulties in finding summer work.

The migrant workers employed in hotels in Westport are settled in the community and are good workers. They go home on a regular basis and send as much money as possible back to their families in the same way as Irish people working abroad did in the 1930s and 1940s prior to the establishment of the European Union. The money that came from Irish people working in America and Britain kept this country alive, and these people are doing that now in respect of their countries. I hope we can protect these workers better than Irish workers were protected in America and Britain in the past and that we have learnt from our past mistakes. I hope that legislation will be introduced to deal with illegal immigrants. We cannot be hypocritical with Members travelling to America to try to look after our own and forgetting about looking after illegal immigrants living here.

We are facing a general election and it will not be long before some Fianna Fáil backbenchers use the issue of immigrants to try to get themselves elected. There used to be the green card issue and now the issue is foreign workers and illegal immigrants coming to live in this country. If people speak out of turn in that context, I hope they will be dealt with by the Taoiseach and that legislation will be in place to deal with such racists. We cannot have it both ways. We cannot try to get our people in America protected when people who come into this country are not protected. I hope that legislation will be introduced in future to deal with them.

See this speech in context