Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 143:

In page 16, lines 14 and 15, to delete "or the employer".

I have tabled amendments Nos. 143 and 144 because it is grossly unfair that an employee, a permit holder who has done no wrong, will be disqualified or have his or her permit revoked if the employer is convicted of an offence under the Bill. If the amendment is accepted, section 16(1)(a) will read: "in the opinion of the Minister, the holder of the permit has not complied with section 19(1) or (2)." As the Bill stands, the employee will be the victim due to the conviction of the employer for an offence over which he or she will have no power.

Amendment No. 157 seeks to address a situation where an unscrupulous employer could pretend that he or she had renewed the work permit, which would result in the employee becoming illegal through no fault of his or her own. The amendment tries to build fairness into the section.

Amendment No. 162 seeks to give employees the right to seek alternative employment rather than immediately becoming illegal. In all cases, this is largely a by-product of the employer being the person who seeks and holds the permit. I do not want to labour the point because we have dealt with it at length on Second and Committee Stages.

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