Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

When he spoke during this debate on the issue of the need for greater flexibility in the recruitment of bus drivers, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said that we have to look towards the fishing industry. That statement is incredible, as is the fact that a Government Deputy points towards the fishing industry as an example of anything in this country to do with jobs, recruitment, workers' rights and decent treatment.

I will comment on the review of the atypical work permit scheme for non-EEA fishers that was published last night. Before I do so, let us look at the conditions that have existed under this scheme and the shocking levels of exploitation that took place under it. If these conditions were described as Dickensian, that would probably be an understatement. I recently tabled a parliamentary question for the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, and received a response from him, regarding the issue of contraventions of legal entitlements of migrant fishers since the introduction of that scheme in February 2016. I will read into the record of the Dáil some of the information that was provided to me in the Minister's reply. It is shocking information that includes chilling statistics.

Contravention notices were served on 95 of the 126 vessel owners, in other words, three quarters of the vessel owners in question. Some 392 contraventions were detected by WRC inspectors. I ask Deputies to bear with me as I read out 11 headings under which contraventions took place. Contraventions took place relating to the employment of non-EEA fishers without permission; failure to co-operate with the WRC inspectors; the provision of false information and false documents; failure to pay the legal national minimum wage; the provision of annual leave; denial of public holiday entitlements; unauthorised deductions; failure to keep records; failure to issue payslips; failure to issue contracts of employment; and hours of work and hours of rest.

Despite this - bus drivers beware - Deputy Ó Cathasaigh stated during this debate that in order to have more flexibility in the recruitment of bus drivers, we have to look towards the fishing industry.

My God, does that not say something about this Government and the parties participating in it? Last night, we saw the overdue publication of the review of the atypical work permit scheme for non-EEA fishers. The review essentially calls for the scheme to be effectively wound up. That is positive. I welcome it and it will be welcomed by migrant fishers throughout the country. The review recommends a more advantageous work permit scheme. What that scheme will look like in reality is not yet known as there is a year-long process of engagement to be undertaken. However, it is understood that there will be a pathway towards visa stamp 4, full labour market access and family reunification, if desired. I repeat that I welcome that, as will the fishers. I congratulate the International Transport Workers Federation for its relentless campaigning work in highlighting these issues and in putting the Government and the State under pressure on them. Its work was the key driver of the changes that are about to take place.

There are some weaknesses in this review, however. I will highlight two specific weaknesses. First, there are more than 250 undocumented fishers in this State who fell out of the atypical scheme for any of a number of reasons. The two main reasons were injury and, in some cases, serious injury preventing them from carrying on working as fishers in the industry and people walking away after disputes with exploitative employers who would not pay proper wages or give proper hours or who undertook the other actions I have given examples of. The majority of these more than 250 undocumented fishers were not catered for under the scheme for the undocumented introduced by the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. They are in limbo and this review does not address their needs. It needs to do so. These are people who have been treated very poorly by their employers when guests of the nation here, as the information I gave earlier indicates. A hand needs to be reached out to these people. They need to be given satisfaction and a decent arrangement needs to be put in place for them.

The second weakness is that the review had an unnecessarily defensive tone to it. For example, dozens of cases of having been trafficked into this country have been reported to An Garda Síochána by non-EEA fishers. The report says that those claims were shown to be without foundation by the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP. The DPP never said that those claims were without foundation. That is false. It is a distortion of the reality and the truth. What the DPP said was that there was insufficient evidence. There is a world of difference between saying that there is insufficient evidence, which is what the DPP said, and saying that the reports were found to be without foundation, as is indicated in the report. That should be corrected and officially changed. It is false. While I am at it, the DPP's office has never successively taken a case on the issue of labour exploitation. This is a key reason for this State consistently scoring very poorly, year after year, in international trafficking reports. That needs to be highlighted and I would welcome a change in the position.

I have more or less concluded my remarks. I have two minutes left on the clock. We need an end to what is effectively bonded labour in this State. We need to focus on improving workers' rights and conditions rather than all of the time tweaking things to suit the needs and demands of employers. If bus drivers or any other group of workers are listening to this debate, they should pay attention to the comments of Deputy Ó Cathasaigh because saying that we have to look towards the fishing industry for anything other than an example of the exploitation we need to combat or of how we need to do things very differently is mind-blowing. I will leave it at that.

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