Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The impact of accepting any of these amendments would ultimately be to change the system which is being applied under this legislation. As the Minister has proposed, the work permit application is made on a vacancy-based system. The import of what Deputy Hogan has said would change that, to some extent, towards being a quota-based or points-based system. It would thus lose the major attraction it has for us in view of our experience — that when we know who the employer is, where the employment is and what specific employee is contracted to that job, we have a much better opportunity of following up on any complaints or difficulties that might arise. That is why we have gone for this option.

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