Seanad debates

Thursday, 27 March 2003

Employment Permits Bill 2003: Second Stage.

 

There is a slight lacuna between now and the implementation date next year, and I ask the Department to loosen its examination of people from those countries in the interim. I recently came across someone from the Czech Republic who was working in Limerick. The person was there legitimately, having applied and done everything by the book. However, he had not received his permit by the time his visa ran out. The only legal and honest route open to him was to leave the country and come back in again. When he did so, he was stopped at immigration, even though he was doing things the honest and open way. The immigration officers in Shannon listened to his employer and, more or less as a favour, allowed him back in. We should not concentrate on those countries over the next year. Let us look at the wider picture and get things moving in that direction. By doing so, we will have a managed policy. We can then argue about its management from here.

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