John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this Bill, to raise some of the issues that concern us in regard to this and other Bills which will be brought before us from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and to reflect on the experience to date in terms of what has happened in the marketplace and what jobs are available and of those who have come to this country to fill these jobs and their experience of living here. There is no doubt the market has changed. There are new demands on employers and on this country to ensure a wider range and a greater pool of skills are available to ensure that, regardless of the job, whether on the bottom or the top rung of the ladder, there is a pool of qualified, skilled workers from which to draw.

Following the accession of the new member states, more than 90,000 people have come here to seek employment. The experience of people arriving on our shores generally leaves much to be desired, particularly of those who have come through the asylum process. I do not want to confuse one process with the other but we must look at both experiences. Having considered the experiences of those in my constituency, I would have to say this Bill is timely because the system in operation is completely out of date and does not reflect what this country is about.

When family members of many people working here on work permits, and who have permission to be in the State to work, turn 18 years of age, they must seek a permit themselves by leaving and returning or they must leave the country. That is causing great distress for families of highly skilled workers. These families have come here to put down roots. Some of them have received poor advice from their country of origin. These people who arrive here, take up employment, make a contribution, decide to stay, more or less, permanently and have their permits renewed face the experience of their families being divided and family members having to leave. I would like that issue addressed in the Bill, that is, that there is continuity for those living here and comfort for family members who wish to stay.

I refer to work permits being issued to employers. In the past two weeks I came across a case in my constituency where an employee, who had been here since 2001, left it to the employer to apply for the permit but the employer did not do so. Having been in the country illegally for 12 months, the employee must regularise his situation for the immigration officer in Kilkenny and ensure the permit is regularised if at all possible. The process must be simplified because we require people to work at all levels of the workforce yet we seem to make it very difficult for them to participate in, enjoy and extend their employment and to bring their families here.

We have attracted quite a number of people to come here to take up employment in the health service. In recent months I have come across cases where people have decided to get married here but their families have been refused visas to enable them to attend. If we are to allow people to come to the State to work, even within this new system, we must ensure there is greater flexibility, whether in the Department of Justice, Equality or Law Reform or the Minister's Department, so that family members who wish to travel here for legitimate reasons, whether for a visit, family occasion or otherwise, are allowed to do so without being put through the wringer, as it were, in regard to their applications. If a person is refused a visa, he or she must go through the process again to ensure his or her appeal is successful. If it is not included in this Bill, I propose a certain amount of flexibility, since we are in a time of change, relative to those positions we have encouraged so that the extended family can enjoy occasional holidays here. Their applications should be dealt with in a more flexible and user-friendly manner, whether by the Minister's Department or the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Deputies referred to the residency and equality Bill which the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform proposes to bring forward later this year. There is an overlap between the Minister's Department and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform on a regular basis and it would make sense if most of the responsibility fell to one Department. The Minister's Department is the appropriate one to deal with these issues because it has a knowledge of the employee, the employer, the background to the case and so on. It would lighten the load on officials making decisions in these cases if they could refer to the history of the case more quickly and make decisions which would be more in keeping with what the employee is trying to do and what the family is trying to achieve.

See this speech in context