Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the first instance, I support the remarks made by Deputy Louise O'Reilly. My own concerns and those of the Labour Party are well known and well established and have been articulated on several occasions since the publication of this Bill. While I do not myself have the benefit of being formally a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment I did make a contribution on Committee Stage and introduced a number of amendments that would have sought to firm up the situation, as it were, linked to seasonal workers.

I have tabled two amendments. One may be related to this and another may not be but we will come to that later. In general terms, I share the concerns of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, of the MRCI, and of other well-informed organisations working with migrant workers and to vindicate the rights of migrant workers all the time. It is always dangerous territory to enter when we consider introducing legislation to create a new class of worker or employee and a new tier of employment rights. In my view, this will diminish working standards across the board and labour standards more generally. I would proceed with caution on this. I said on Committee Stage, and I am reading my remarks and the remarks of others, that there is not an identified demand for seasonal workers in Ireland. To put it another way, and I put this to the Minister of State, who specifically is demanding the introduction of this new tier or this new class of employee? It is an area that requires cautious progress, if any. I am not convinced and I am not persuaded of the requirement for this new class of worker and seasonal permits more generally.

In my own experience, those who work in what might be described as seasonal industries are absolutely open to exploitation. I have dealt with many cases over the years in my own general region, if I can put it that way, of migrant workers and indeed workers from the European Union coming here and experiencing concerning levels and degrees of exploitation in many forms. These of course are individuals who may not be equipped themselves to vindicate their own rights. They may not have access to trade unions. Their employers are actively hostile to trade unions or to them obtaining the advice of Oireachtas Members who may have some experience in this regard. I have seen situations where employees themselves have been targeted and victimised because they have raised their heads above the parapet to complain of poor treatment in terms of the accommodation they are in, the transportation arrangements to and from their accommodation and their workplace and general employment standards and pay.

I would urge caution. It is important for those of us who have concerns about this to express them here at the outset of the debate.

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