Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The provisions in section 3 exempt people from the eight accession states referred to from the need, as laid down by the treaty of accession, to obtain employment permits in order to enter into or be in employment in the State during the transition period. Under subsection (3), the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment may, by order, reinstate the requirement for employment permits in the event of disturbances in the domestic labour market.

This is, in effect, a safeguard clause which allows access to the labour market to be regulated during the transitional period. If the labour market suffers an unexpected or severe shock, subsection (5) would give the Minister the power to revoke or amend such an order made within the timeframe of the transitional period. The purpose of the amendment is to clarify that in a case where the reintroduction of a requirement for employment permits was later to be reversed, this reversal would also need to be based on an order made by the Minister.