John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

In the early 1980s, the Irish were not that welcome in certain countries because of the situation in the North. Given the treatment of workers who emigrated to the UK in the 1960s and took part in the development of that country's infrastructure, we should take a particular interest in the welfare of migrant workers. In no way should any wrongdoing be attributed to migrant workers. We should have no hand in it, nor should we condone any activity that does not welcome workers to this country with a céad míle fáilte. People who come to Ireland seeking employment are welcome. It is a shared expectation on the part of Ireland's people and the new arrivals that the experience will be beneficial to all. Ireland has skills shortages which we need to overcome if we are to deliver the essential services and infrastructure we demand and expect and contribute to the benefit of all. People who deliberately mistreat migrant workers are preying on the inexperienced and vulnerable. Such people are despicable and have no place in our business community or Irish society.

The experience of the vast majority of migrant workers in Ireland is positive and consistent with migrant workers' experiences abroad. Our policy on migrant workers is based on economic needs and seeks to address identified labour and skills shortages. Obviously, our policy must respond to a constantly changing environment. Our labour market needs are continually changing as our economic performance changes.

For many centuries Ireland was a country of net emigration, with large numbers of young people emigrating to find employment overseas. However, this all changed in the 1990s. From 1997 to 2000, in particular, Ireland experienced an exceptional level of growth. This good economic growth has led to enormous growth in employment. Since 1997, the numbers in employment have grown by nearly 450,000. At the same time, the number unemployed has fallen by almost 80,000, from 10.4% to 4.7%, which is about half the EU average. The number of long-term unemployed people has dropped by nearly 60,000, from 5.5% to 1.4%. This is about one third of the EU average.

As a consequence of Ireland's economic growth, labour and skills shortages have become apparent. This has necessitated the recruitment of large numbers of overseas workers, principally from the European Union but also from a wide geographical spread of destinations. The scale of this is evident in the numbers of work permits issued to nationals from outside the European Economic Area in recent years. The EEA consists of the 25 EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and, for this purpose, Switzerland. In 1999, 6,000 work permits were issued. By 2003, this figure increased to 48,000. In all, a total of 110,000 non-EEA nationals entered employment in the State in the past five years.

Thanks to the positive nature of the Government's policies, our future economic outlook is good. The Irish economy is forecast to grow by 4.7% in GNP terms in 2005, twice the rate of the EU average. This positive fact has been recognised by the EU Commission which, in its commentary on the EU Stability and Growth Pact for 2005 to 2007, notes our strong growth and sound public finances. The good economic outlook means that considerable future expansion of employment and demand for labour are also expected. This will mean increasing the numbers in our labour force.

Given the falling numbers of young people coming into the labour market, there will be a need to mobilise labour supply from other sources, including from other countries. Not only must we acquire the number of workers we need, but we must also ensure that we supply the types of skills our labour market will need. The enterprise action plan, published in March, included the development of a skills-based immigration policy as a key task. This will support enterprise development as part of the strategy to move the economy to one which is both knowledge-based and innovation-driven.

Forfás and the expert group for future skills needs are currently engaged in research and consultations on the detailed issues entailed in the implementation of this policy, including the types of skills for which permits should be granted. This work will form the basis of a policy paper to be published by the Government later this year.

The Government is also in the final stages of preparing a new employment permits Bill, which will govern the issue of all employment permits for nationals from outside the EEA. The Bill will put the existing employment permit administrative arrangements on a legislative footing and thereby provide greater accountability and transparency. It will allow for a more managed economic migration policy and enable the introduction of a green card-type system for highly-skilled migrant workers. I welcome this in particular.

The Bill will also enshrine in law a number of protections for migrant workers. Employers will be prohibited from deducting from the remuneration of migrant workers any costs associated with their recruitment. The Bill will also prohibit the retention by employers of personal documents belonging to migrant workers.

Our economic migration policy must change as Europe changes. In advance of the recent enlargement of the European Union, the Government, in an expression of solidarity with the new member states, decided to allow full freedom of movement to citizens of those states from the date of their accession to the Union on 1 May 2004. The anniversary of the accession was on 1 May 2005. In this context, the Government decided that any future labour shortages should in the first instance be met from within the EEA, particularly because there are approximately 19 million people unemployed at present in the EU.

A significant proportion of work permits over recent years has been granted to citizens of the new member states who now no longer require them. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of work permits issued since 1 May 2004. The number of new work permits issued in 2003 was 22,000 while the corresponding figure for 2004 was 10,000.

I commend the Government's policy and commend its amendment to the House. This is the first sitting since 1 May.