Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The decision on Bulgaria and Romania will be made following a decision of the EU to grant accession to these countries in the first instance. We will make a decision in the autumn, if the decision to allow accession goes ahead. We will consider it in the context of the labour market trends in our economy and the fact that a number of EU countries have still not granted access to new EU citizens to their labour markets. We will consult the social partners and Members of this House before coming to that decision. There is a provision in the Employment Permits Bill 2005, currently going through the Seanad, which will enable us to make a decision by regulation one way or the other.

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