Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----which are recommendations on page 211 of the working group report. Again, it relates to the cherry-picking of the recommendations and the fact that only 26 out of 170 have been picked. One of the fundamental ones is around the right to work.The working group stated:

Having regard to the foregoing, the Working Group recommends:

Provision for access to the labour market for protection applicants who are awaiting a first instance decision for nine months or more and who have co-operated with the protection process (under the relevant statutory provisions), should be included in the International Protection Bill and should be commenced when the single procedure is operating efficiently. This recommendation takes account of the fact that, under the current statutory arrangements, first instance decisions in respect of refugee status and subsidiary protection do not (in the normal course) issue within nine months at present.

Any permission given to access the labour market should continue until the final determination of the protection claim.

A protection applicant who has the right to access the labour market and is successful in finding employment, and who wishes to remain in Direct Provision, should be subject to a means test to determine an appropriate contribution to his/her accommodation and the other services provided to him/her.

That is the recommendation. It could not be clearer. According to the report, this recommendation should be included in the Bill before the House.

The Minister of State established the working group and appointed its members, including officials of his Department and representatives from the NGOs that were not opposed to this Bill. The Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, and the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, launched this report to great fanfare and said they were going to implement its recommendations. I take it they agree with all of the recommendations of the working group. The view of the working group is that the measure to which I refer should be included in the Bill. It could not be clearer. For the Government to be obfuscating and beating around the bush on this with a view to it being examined by another committee is a cover-up for the fact that it does not want to implement the recommendation. If it did, it would be included in this Bill. I believe it is a good recommendation that needs to be taken on board. Sinn Féin will be pushing this amendment to a vote.