David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 11:

In page 25, to delete lines 5 to 7 and substitute the following:"(a) where the application is made in respect of the employment sector specified in the application,".

There was some discussion on Second Stage on this issue, which is an important one. One of the concerns we have about the Bill is the tie between an employer and a migrant worker, an employee. We have consistently called on the Government to break what has been characterised as the bondage emphasis of the permit where a worker is tied to a specific employer. As the Minister will be aware, the 2006 Act enabled a successful applicant to be issued to the employee with a description of the economic sector in which he or she was permitted to work and that allowed some flexibility, but that section of the legislation was never given full effect. The Government has now withdrawn it and copperfastened the current practice by tying a worker to a company for a minimum period of 12 months.
As we know, foreign nationals are brought in to fill a gap in an identified sector, not in a particular company. Why should a worker be tied to a particular company and not be able to move from it? That prevents labour market mobility.

It actually goes against a lot of what the Minister believes in, which is competition, mobility and flexibility. I find it a little bizarre that he is not prepared to accept the amendment. The NASC noted, based on its experience, that current practice increased the risk of workplace exploitation and limited labour mobility. The amendment is worth pushing and it is worth encouraging the Minister to look at it again. If a migrant worker is working for a particular company and the permit ties him or her to that company but he or she wants to move on as he or she may get better terms and conditions somewhere else, why should he or she not be able to do so? It is a fair proposal and we will be pushing the amendment.