Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 85 together.

I am aware of the recent report by the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, Work Permits and Exploitation: Time For Reform, in the context of proposing changes to the system of issuing work permits. The employment permits system and the treatment of migrant workers has significantly changed in recent years. These changes have sought to strike the correct balance between the rights of the individual employee, the employer and the constantly changing needs of the labour market.

Under the Employment Permits Act 2006, individual employees were given the right to apply for their own permit and to change employer after a period of a year. In August 2009 a new initiative was introduced dispensing with the requirement of a work permit for those who have been working lawfully and who have held an employment permit for five consecutive years. This allows an employee full access to the labour market for any type of job and any employer.

An undocumented scheme has also been introduced allowing those who have become undocumented through no fault of their own and who previously held a work permit to regularise their situations. In addition, a scheme to assist persons made redundant has also been introduced and the period to allow a person get a job has been extended to six months.

Ireland's body of employment rights legislation and in particular the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 protects all workers employed on an employer-employee basis in Ireland. The National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with certain employment conditions for all categories of workers in Ireland, including migrant workers. Where evidence of non-compliance with the relevant employment rights legislation is found, NERA works with the employer in the first instance to achieve compliance. Where breaches are not rectified or where there are substantial breaches of employment rights legislation, NERA may initiate a prosecution. In 2009, €2.5 million in unpaid wages was recovered for over 6,000 workers, including migrants who were identified as having been paid less than their statutory minimum entitlements.

A code of practice for protecting persons employed in other people's homes has been prepared under the Industrial Relations Act 1990. The code sets out certain employment rights and protections, encourages good practice and compliance with the law and increases awareness of the application of relevant legislation for persons employed in other people's homes.

There are also other avenues of redress where breaches of employment rights occur, such as referrals to the Rights Commissioners and the Employment Appeals Tribunal. The range of new measures now in place has substantially improved the situation for all workers, including those on employment permits. It is important to retain the current controls within the employment permits system as they operate to protect employees by allowing the system to trace employers who employ permit holders. The current arrangements for moving jobs are sufficiently flexible in the current circumstances.

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