Written answers

Thursday, 5 July 2007

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Employment Rights

5:00 pm

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 131: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers has not been ratified and will not be ratified in the near future, as reported in the ECRI Second Report on Ireland; when the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families will be ratified. [19377/07]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are no plans to ratify the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers which was finalised in 1977. However, I would point out that the provisions of the Convention in relation to work permits and re-employment have been largely provided for through the provisions of the Employment Permits Acts 2003 and 2006 and their implementation in practice.

With regard to the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, as I and other Ministers have indicated in relation to similar questions in the past, Ireland has not signed nor has it any plans to ratify the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1990. This is also the position of other Member States of the European Union.

This Convention is a complex and wide ranging one, which has been examined by a number of Government Departments. I understand that before Ireland could consider ratifying it there would need to be significant changes across a wide range of existing legislation, including employment, social welfare, education, taxation and electoral law. Moreover, many of the issues addressed by the Convention would have a European Union dimension. This would also complicate any proposed ratification by Ireland of it, if our European partners were to continue to refrain from ratification, as they seem likely to do. I would however say that I am fully committed to the prevention of exploitation of migrant workers and to ensuring that all workers benefit from the full range of our employment rights protections.

In this respect I would point out that this range of protections has been added to by the Employment Permits Act 2006. The Act provides a number of new important protections for migrant workers including:

the granting of the employment permit to the employee, rather than the employer.

the employment permit containing a statement of the rights and entitlements of the migrant worker, including that the employee may change employment through the application for another permit by a new employer.

provision prohibiting employers from retaining the personal documents of employees, including passports, driving licenses or identity cards, as well as a provision preventing employers from deducting recruitment expenses, including employment permit fees, from the remuneration of employees.

provision to ensure that migrant workers in respect of whom application is made for an employment permit are entitled to the national minimum wage under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 (as periodically up-dated).

It might be noted that Ireland's extensive range of employment rights legislation is applicable equally to nationals and non-nationals alike, without differentiation as to country of origin.

In addition, I would also stress that the provisions of the new Social Partnership agreement "Towards 2016" contain a new employment rights compliance package for all workers, which includes new legislation as well as the establishment of a new office for employment rights compliance — the National Employment Rights Authority has already been established on an interim basis.

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