Mary Henry (Independent)

I am delighted that this debate is taking place because I have just returned from Latvia which is currently sending us many workers. While I am glad the Minister for Foreign Affairs has been in discussion with his Latvian counterpart, who opened the conference I attended, I would like to read some extracts from this month's Baltic Guide, which is widely distributed in Latvia in English and, I presume, in other languages as well. The heading of the article is "Not very funny mushrooms". It states:

Thousands of Latvians have headed for other European Union countries, especially Ireland. They earn their former daily salary in an hour, picking mushrooms, milking cows, working in factories and doing other menial tasks the Irish no longer want to do. Since Latvia joined the EU last May, the UK and Sweden have given Latvian citizens the right to work without a work permit. About 150,000 new workers — mostly Poles, Lithuanians and Latvians — have officially registered in Ireland, although the actual figure may be much higher.

Help wanted ads in Irish papers appear in Russian and Latvian to help the new immigrants find jobs. Many say they hope to return to Latvia and buy a home or farm, and hope they will one day be able to prosper in their homeland. In Ireland they often work gruelling hours, living a dozen to a house or in a factory trailer, all in the name of money.

The mass emigration is also causing a new sad trend, so called "mushroom orphans", or children left behind in Latvia with neighbours or relatives as their parents go off to pick mushrooms. Another side effect: husbands leaving with the intention of working for a few months to raise money, then abandoning their Latvian family and creating a new one abroad.

Ireland, at least, views the new immigrants positively and officials say the influx of Latvians has been good for the economy. Balts work hard and are willing to take low-level jobs that upwardly mobile Irish avoid. Indeed, more than 400,000 trade unionists protested in Dublin in early December when the Irish Ferries company began introducing Latvian labourers, who were willing to work for lower wages.

The Latvian Government hopes the migrants will come back, armed with new skills and languages. Migration studies, however, suggest that two-thirds will never return.

I felt rather sad when I read that article, since I did not feel that this was the picture of working in Ireland that I wanted presented. Another article on the Irish Ferries dispute stated the following.

Many Irish citizens feel that if the restructuring plan goes ahead, other Irish companies will carry out similar restructuring programmes. Any such trend will no doubt suit many Latvian immigrant workers in the short-term, but it is sure to foster further resentment and racism towards Latvians living in Ireland. Furthermore, it must be hoped that Latvian salaries will rapidly catch up with the EU average or the country will suffer from a "people drain" to add to the brain drain already occurring.

Those were on pages 3 and 4 of a widely distributed journal, and I was very sorry to readthem.

Perhaps I might comment on one other group, which I am glad was addressed in the Minister of State's speech, namely, the situation regarding domestic workers. I also found that a source of concern, and I admit that I was with female parliamentarians from the Baltic area who took a particular interest in what work their young women might become involved in when they went abroad. There was great concern that, because of what is described as the growth in our adult entertainment industry, some young women who come to work here in domestic service and find that they are incredibly badly paid and cannot survive will be tempted to join the ranks of those dancing naked in the new clubs which have now been permitted. Naturally, it is much easier for a stranger to the country to appear naked or very scantily clad in these joints than for Irishwomen, who might fear seeing their neighbours from down the road, no matter how enthusiastic they may be about dancing.

We must take a special interest in social aspects of workers' lives here. When I returned on the aeroplane from Latvia, I saw that those coming over were incredibly young — I would have thought that the majority were between 20 and 25. One is very vulnerable when one is in a strange country at that age, and I suggest that we must address not simply the economic aspects of the issue but the social ones too. When people are living in a strange country, they are far more vulnerable to being exploited than in their own home place with the backup of family and so forth. I hope that the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, will also consider that area.

The tone of these articles is very sad, pointing out the disparity in wages and also what Irish people are apparently content to offer workers who come here. Someone is going back and telling these stories to reporters in Latvia. From what other speakers have said, there seems no evidence to suggest that those stories are in any way untrue. I know the Minister of State to be a good-hearted person, and I sincerely hope that in addressing this issue, he will not simply address the economics but also the social issues. I do not wish to see the Crisis Pregnancy Agency making a special effort to help those who have come from abroad. I hope that this side of employment in this country will also be addressed.