Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Traditionally, seasonal workers have mainly been involved in labour intensive industries such as horticulture, the hospitality sector and tourism. Statistics show that they have come from EU member states and do not require a permit. As rightly pointed out, there is an issue with non-EEA workers. There is a demand for seasonal workers, as the Deputy rightly pointed out and the Department has seen first-hand. That is why we are putting interim measures in place to see what we can do within existing regulations. In the longer term we will need new employment permits legislation, a matter with which the Department will deal. We will try to deal with the issue under existing legislation.

See this speech in context