Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Others have articulated the kinds of concerns we have and again, while I appreciate that the Minister of State indicated that there will be an analysis, there are certain other factors that are needed in that analysis. The question of wages needs to be part of it, so that we are not simply looking at analysis that addresses abuses but that we are also looking at the situation of the conditions and the wages, and where the wages pan out in terms of the wider national picture of wages.

It is also really important to look at it sectorally because we know the argument for this kind of permit has been made on the basis of a few specific sectors. What we need to watch for is to see if this kind of permit then spreads and is used in many others because then we are moving towards a problem. A good idea can take a very long time to get moving but bad ideas can happen rapidly. We saw, for example, the case of zero-hour contracts. They were used in certain industries and suddenly they became the norm. Suddenly we saw zero-hour contracts being used right across the hospitality sector, for example. Instead, in Ireland, the UK and elsewhere, we had to look to the rearguard action against the abuse of a kind of contract. We have seen, for example, in the United States, non-competition clauses, which were originally designed to be for people who were working in industries with very detailed intellectual property and where there is a real jeopardy and danger with regard to the exchange of intellectual property. Suddenly, they were being used by fast food chains to effectively tie their employees. If you stopped working in one fast food chain, it would effectively ensure that you were not able to take employment in any other fast food chain, meaning that it was the only employer in the area that you could access.

These are just examples, and while they are international examples, they are examples of how, if you create a tool that can be abused and used in this way, it will be. Part of examining it is not just examining how it is used but looking to the sectors that are using it. Are these contracts and permits going to actually replace full work permits in some of the sectors that we are looking at now? I am looking forward to and will read with great interest the analysis that the Minister of State will provide and has indicated will be publicly available, which I welcome. While we do need a detailed report, we also need a report that examines what happens in between work. What is the impact of seasonal work permits, for example, on school places for children? If you are a seasonal worker, are your children enrolled in Irish schools? What happens in between? Where does this seasonal piece come in? Which seasons? What is the overlap, and what is the access to education? What is the access with regard to the pension schemes, where we are looking for ever higher requirements? Are you making pension contributions? Are you going to be entitled to social services? We know that access to most social welfare requires two years of continuous engagement with the State. Will those who have seasonal work permits - even if they have them for three, four or five years - not be able to access it, or show a connection to the State when it comes to connecting in with our social protection systems, and crucially, all the other parts of the State that flow from that?

There is a huge amount of questions, not just for employers but for the State, that get opened up when we look at this. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State has indicated that she will be publishing her analysis but I think the content of that analysis may need to be a little bit wider.