Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Amendments Nos. 1 to 5 may, by agreement, be discussed together.

Seanad amendment No. 1:

Section 3: In page 8, lines 6 to 15 deleted and the following new section inserted:

3. The Act of 2003 is further amended—

(a) in subsection (3) of section 2—

(i) by inserting, after 'subsection (1) or (2)', 'or fails to take the steps specified in subsection (2B)', and

(ii) by inserting in paragraph (b), after 'subsection (2)', 'or a failure to take the steps specified in subsection (2B)',

(b) by substituting the following subsections for subsections (10) and (11) of section 2:

'(10) Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Act, this section does not apply to a foreign national—

(a) in respect of whom a declaration under section 17 of the Refugee Act 1996 is in force,

(b) who is entitled to enter the State pursuant to section 18 or 24 of that Act,

(c) who is entitled to enter the State and to be in employment in the State pursuant to the treaties governing the European Communities (within the meaning of the European Communities Acts 1972 to 2003), or

(d) who is permitted to remain in the State by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and who is in employment in the State pursuant to a condition of that permission that the person may be in employment in the State without an employment permit referred to in subsection (1),

but this section, subject to section 2A and any order under section 3A(1) for the time being in force, does apply to a foreign national who is a national of the Republic of Bulgaria or Romania (including at a time subsequent to the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria or Romania to the European Union).

(11) The Minister, when determining which applications for employment permits should be granted, shall give preference to each of the following, namely—

(a) applications in respect of nationals of a state in relation to which an order under section 3 is in force, and

(b) applications in respect of nationals of the Republic of Bulgaria or Romania to whom this section for the time being applies.

(c) by inserting the following section after section 2:

2A.—(1) Notwithstanding subsection (10) of that section, section 2 does not apply to—

(a) a national of the Republic of Bulgaria or Romania who falls within the second or third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex VI of the Treaty of Accession with the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania,

(b) a person, whatever his or her nationality, who falls within paragraph 8 of that Annex.

(2) Irrespective of whether the person falls within the second or third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex VI of the Treaty of Accession with the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, section 2 does not apply to a national of the Republic of Bulgaria or Romania on and from the expiration of —

(a) unless paragraph (b) applies, 5 years from the date that the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania become members of the European Union (the "accession date"), or

(b) if at, or during the 2 months before, the end of the period of 5 years referred to in paragraph (a) an order under subsection (1) of section 3A is revoked by a subsequent order under that subsection, 7 years from the accession date.

(3) In this section "Treaty of Accession with the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania" means the Treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union signed at Luxembourg on the 25th day of April 2005.',

and

(d) by inserting the following sections after section 3:

3A.—(1) Notwithstanding section 2(10), the Minister may, subject to subsection (2), make an order providing that section 2 shall apply neither to nationals of the Republic of Bulgaria nor to nationals of Romania and for so long as such an order remains in force that section shall not apply to such nationals accordingly.

(2) The Minister shall not make an order under subsection (1) at a particular time unless, having regard to the conditions of the labour market in the State at that time, the Minister is of the opinion—

(a) that it is desirable in the interests of the proper functioning of the economy to make such an order, and

(b) that, in the 24 months following the making of the order, employment in the State is likely to become available on a continuous basis for nationals of the states referred to in subsection (1) contemplating entry into employment in the State.

(3) An order under subsection (1) may not be revoked by a subsequent order under that subsection unless, in the opinion of the Minister, the labour market, at the time of the making of the second-mentioned order, is experiencing a disturbance or is likely thereafter to experience a disturbance.

(4) Notwithstanding section 2(10), where an order under subsection (1) is revoked by a subsequent order under that subsection section 2 shall not apply to a national of the Republic of Bulgaria or Romania if he or she has been in employment in the State for a period of not less than 6 weeks immediately before the commencement of the second-mentioned order and has been in receipt of remuneration for such employment.

(5) In this section—

"disturbance" shall be construed in accordance with the Treaty of Accession with the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania;

"labour market" shall be construed in accordance with the Treaty of Accession with the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania;

"Treaty of Accession with the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania" has the same meaning as it has in section 2A.

3B.—(1) The Minister may, subject to subsection (2), by order provide that section 10 of the Employment Permits Act 2006 shall not apply to an application for an employment permit in respect of a national of the Republic of Bulgaria or Romania and for so long as such an order remains in force —

(a) that section 10 shall not apply to such an application accordingly, and

(b) the other the other provisions of the Employment Permits Act 2006 shall be construed and have effect subject to the order,

but without prejudice to any regulations for the time being in force under section 14 of that Act.

(2) The Minister shall not make an order under subsection (1) at a particular time unless, having regard to the conditions of the labour market in the State at that time, the Minister is of the opinion that it is desirable in the interests of the proper functioning of the economy to make such an order.'.".

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, who apologises for his absence today on amendment No. 1 indicated his intention to propose an enabling provision to the Bill to allow the Government's decision on whether to grant labour market access to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania on their accession to the European Union to be implemented by ministerial order. Amendment No. 1, as agreed by the Seanad, does this.

Amendment No. 3 was proposed on advice of Parliamentary Counsel and makes the reference to section 10 of the 2003 Act more specific by referring to paragraphs (a) to (d) of that section.

Amendment No. 2 concerns subsections (2) and (3) of section 9, which relate to information that will accompany or be included on an employment permit. This amendment, which was proposed on the advice of Parliamentary Counsel, is necessary to take account of an amendment agreed on Report Stage in the Dáil to the effect that an employment permit should include or be accompanied by a summary of the principal employment rights of the employee.

Amendment No. 4 is a technical amendment, proposed on the advice of Parliamentary Counsel, which merely puts brackets around the figure "2".

Amendment No. 5 was tabled by Deputy Howlin on Report Stage in the Dáil and the Minister was disposed toward accepting it. Accordingly he put it forward for consideration on Committee Stage in the Seanad. The amendment will result in uniformity in the entitlement of permits of unlimited duration after five years, irrespective of whether the employee or employer is the applicant.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I support the amendments, which are mainly of a technical nature. Can the Minister confirm that he said the enabling provision would be implemented by ministerial order, to take into account changing labour market conditions with regard to Bulgaria and Romania? Will he give an undertaking to return to the House with more than just a ministerial order? Perhaps the order can be placed before the House for debate before the matter is concluded.

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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We can agree to that.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The record should show that clearly.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the amendment which ensures that this House will, from day one, allow full access to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania when they accede to the EU. The Government has already done so and we have praised the Government for the stance it has taken. It is a pity the same stance was not taken by other member states. Only six countries allow full access but all 25 should and, upon the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, all 27 should do so. There should not be two tiers in the European Union. I welcome the foresight shown by the Minister but it would have been preferable if the Government had taken a decision to allow this from the date of accession. However, it has not done so but said it would consider the matter. It is regrettable that the decision on Bulgaria and Romania joining the EU has been kicked into touch for a further number of months. Otherwise on 1 January, all 27 nations in the EU would enjoy full rights from day one, provided they complied with the rules of the EU. When Greece, Spain and Portugal joined the EU similar restrictions were imposed but were lifted within two years because the excuses made at the time for blocking free access to the labour market did not materialise. I welcome the change in that regard.

On the Bill in general, it is a pity that employment permits continue to be granted to employers rather than employees.

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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At the meeting of the European Council in May the EU Ministers, as the Deputy is aware, deferred the decision until the autumn, to see whether Bulgaria and Romania were prepared for membership. They will review the situation at that point to determine if they will be worthy of entry on 31 January 2007. If the assessment is negative it will be put back to January 2008 but I hope they will be able to join in January 2007.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I welcome the amendments and the response of the Government, as well as the fact that the Minister has indicated that before a decision is made by ministerial order on opening up the Irish labour market to both new countries, Bulgaria and Romania, it will be brought before the House and the House will have a chance to discuss it. It is appropriate we should do so.

The postponement of the decision of the European Commission until September, with the support of the Council, provides an added incentive for the Bulgarians and Romanians to get their houses in order. They barely meet the very onerous standards of the acquis communautaire. I gathered from my conversation with the socialist Prime Minister of Bulgaria that postponement until September is being seen as an added incentive for them to bring forward more of the necessary changes, particularly in the judiciary and in matters relating to corruption.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It is most unfortunate that the amendments from the Seanad did not address the cornerstone of the Bill, the fundamental weakness, which was the fact that a permit is given to an employer rather than an employee. That would have released the stranglehold that employers have around the necks of employees, which we still see in the employers who abuse their position in that regard. Will the Minister consider revisiting that issue? Can an amendment be moved this afternoon to rectify that fault?

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The permit is now granted to the employee, not to the employer.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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A copy of the employment permit, which amounts to indentured servitude to an employer, is given to the employee, but not the permit itself. It is not a permit that allows somebody to come to Ireland to work, whereby if an employer abuses them they can change to a different employer. It is not a green card as exists in the US and that is what should have been addressed in the Bill.