Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to present this important Bill to the Seanad.

The Bill is designed primarily to provide a legislative basis for the granting of full labour market access to nationals of the EU accession states after accession takes place in May 2004. From the date of accession, nationals of these countries will no longer require employment permits to work in Ireland. It also puts in place a safeguard mechanism whereby a requirement for employment permits may be reintroduced in respect of nationals of the relevant countries, should the Irish labour market suffer an unexpected disturbance during a transitional period after EU enlargement takes place.

I am availing of this opportunity to put the employment permit regime generally on a more sound statutory footing. The Bill incorporates a provision whereby, for the first time, a requirement for employment permits in respect of non-nationals working in Ireland is set out in primary legislation, together with penalties for non-compliance by employers and employees.

Before going into detail on the provisions of the Bill, I wish to place it in context as part of the general enlargement of the EU, as well as this Government's approach to matters pertaining to economic migration matters. Members will be aware that an additional ten countries, namely, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus, are to be admitted to the EU with effect from May 2004. From that date, they will be party to the treaties governing the European Communities. However, this does not apply to provisions in relation to labour market access. In this area, given concerns surrounding possible labour flows and possible labour market effects, the EU has put in place a transitional measure, during which each member state will be able to exercise discretion as to the extent of access to their respective labour markets. The exception to this arrangement provides for full access to the EU labour market for Malta and Cyprus.