Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Employment Permits Bill 2005. I agree with Deputy Carey's closing remarks about the many anomalies within the existing immigration legislation. Such matters are more properly categorised as being under the aegis of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform rather than that of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. That the spouses and partners of people who have been granted refugee status are obliged to stay in separate accommodation from their families is one such anomaly. The spouses and partners in question may be located in Tralee or somewhere else down the country rather than in Dublin. The Government has made limited attempts to pursue a humanitarian approach to the cases of couples who have to live separately, as well as the cases of fathers who have to live separately from their children. This anomaly needs to be ironed out.

The second anomaly in the system to which I would like to refer relates to those known as "aged out minors". I am sure Deputy Carey is familiar with the cases of such people, many of whom live on the north side of Dublin city. There is a large cohort of aged out minors in the O'Connell School, in particular. I would like to discuss the cases of people who are attending secondary school but are not yet aged out. When they reach the age of 18, they will no longer be subject to the normal education system. Instead, they will be transferred to the jurisdiction of the asylum system, if an appropriate application is made. I understand that approximately 250 people in this country, who came here as orphans without any adult supervision, are in such a state of limbo. When they complete their second level education by sitting the leaving certificate, they will be treated as if they were starting from scratch. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, to bring this matter to the attention of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who should consider such people as being in a separate category. The circumstances of the small number of people to whom I refer could be regularised without having a very strong impact on the system.

As the Minister of State is aware, the purpose of the Bill before the House is to provide a framework for granting work permits to non-nationals to allow them to work in Ireland. Under the Bill, such permits will be granted to people who can fill existing skill shortages. A large number of permits will be granted to people who are high up the skills ladder. The number of permits granted will decrease significantly, however, in the cases of those who are lower down the skills ladder. The permit policy of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is entirely based on a migration policy which, as he has said, "targets individuals possessing a high level of scarce skills" and who "can have a significant positive impact on economic performance". The Minister's policy derives from and reflects a position of economic smugness, namely, that a strong economy can and should dictate terms to all those from weaker economies who may wish to work in it.

I would like to speak about a visit I made to Lithuania some weeks ago. It is interesting that there is a daily flight to Vilnius from Dublin. Lithuania is the country of origin of the second largest number of citizens from the ten new accession states who have come to work in Ireland. Some 9% of those who have come to Ireland from other EU member states are Lithuanian. Poland is the only country from which more people have arrived. I presume that people from those countries are most likely to come to Ireland because they are Catholic countries, like Ireland. Latvia also has a significant percentage of Catholics, although the proportion is not as high as in Lithuania. Lithuania's GDP of €12,000 is approximately one quarter of Ireland's GDP of just under €40,000. There was just a handful of passengers on my flight to Vilnius from Dublin. On the flight home from Vilnius, however, most of the seats were packed with bright young Lithuanians in their 20s and 30s. A generation of young Lithuanian people is migrating and perhaps emigrating forever. They have been drawn from a weak economy with few job opportunities to a strong economy with extensive job opportunities.

When I visited a teaching hospital in Vilnius, I caused a degree of merriment when I asked how long people have to wait on accident and emergency waiting lists or on trolleys. In Lithuania, "accident and emergency" means just that — patients are dealt with immediately because waiting lists for accident and emergency services or operations do not exist in Lithuania, a country with a GDP of just €12,000. A weak economy does not mean a weak society. Medical and hospital services in eastern Europe are years ahead of those in Ireland. However, the salaries of general practitioners, university lecturers and consultants are quite similar to each other, at approximately €100 per week. I learnt that most students in Lithuania are learning English, French or a Scandinavian language so that when they qualify, they will have the language skills to work outside their own country.

People like the Minister, Deputy Martin, want to pick and choose the best and brightest individuals from such countries solely as they relate to Ireland's economic needs and skill shortages from time to time. Such people will deem the workers from other countries to be expendable when the job opportunities dry up, so they will repatriate them and cancel their permits. The Minister's policy is one of narrow national economic selfishness. It is based on the German concept of the guest worker, the gastarbeiter. I notice that the Minister of State is shaking his head.

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