Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I admire, without qualification, the courage and humanity of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. He did something many Ministers I have known would never have had the bottle, capacity or confidence to do. I will be nothing other than fulsome and vigorous in saying the Minister did the right thing, graciously and well. I hope the young man in question will benefit from the extra time he will have in Ireland to complete his education and sort out his future.

I am glad Senators Brian Hayes and O'Toole raised the issue of migrant workers. The constant and standard view of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is that it can only act when it receives a complaint. A senior trade unionist made the point that there are more dog wardens in this country than there are inspectors in the Department who are charged with handling all matters relevant to it and not merely those relating to migrant workers. Ireland will gain a reputation as a country where people are exploited. In the long term, this will do the country no good.

Senator O'Toole raised a profoundly important issue, namely, that it is extremely unfair to decent employers that this type of exploitation is allowed to proceed. Aside from the human factor, in business terms it makes the job of decent employers more difficult if others are in a position to undercut them. Apart from a debate on this issue, we need the Department to decide that it will offer a proactive service.

The Department can take action. For example, it gives permits to every named individual working here legally. In addition to those permits, it should supply the people in question with a list of their rights and of agencies to which they can go if they believe they are being mistreated. If complaints are made, the Department will then be in a position to direct its inspectors to initiate investigations. Is there an undercurrent of illegal work at play here? I do not know but each anecdote we hear is worse than that which preceded it and all of them are proving to be true. Vigorous action must be taken.

Another young child has been taken into care by the north-east section of the Health Service Executive. I am always reluctant to get involved in individual cases but there is cause for concern. Social workers have significant powers to intervene. They can act in ways gardaí cannot because they must follow a process.

Two incidents have occurred in the same region involving different families. The most recent case concerns foster parents, approved as such by the same body, who complained they were stressed because the child had problems and the response was to take the child into care. I know no more than was reported in the newspaper.

There is a serious need for clarification on what is happening. Is it the case that in one region if a person complains the children will be taken away? If so, that is a gross abuse of power.