Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Abuses such as unreasonable duties, excessive working hours, no time off, no annual leave and low pay have been alleged. As Senator O'Rourke stated, there must be proactive investigation of these alleged abuses. It is bad enough that such abuses occur in businesses like Gama but they also occur in private residences.

Members, including Senator Tuffy, who spoke so well on the topic, have talked about the need for an immigration policy and there is no doubt that one is necessary. We need a skills-based immigration policy that admits people on the basis of skill gaps in the market. We cannot have an open door immigration policy that admits people who might not be able to use the training received in their mother countries. A woman from Mongolia who works on my floor in the mornings is trained as a radiographer technician but cannot find such work here. We need to find some way whereby people who come to Ireland and have a good command of English can use their skills and training. The woman's husband was a policeman in Mongolia but now works as a kitchen aid here. Neither of them is using their potential but they love Ireland and the interaction with Irish people who see their potential. We need a skills-based immigration policy but we should also support people who come here looking for work. All of us in Leinster House can see the contribution of foreigners who work herein.

I commend the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on his handling of the Gama affair. I know he is in command of the situation and that once the affair came to his attention, he stuck with it. I would like to tell Senator Terry that it was not possible to have an immigration policy when so many Irish people were emigrating.