I appreciate the Senator's outlining her concerns regarding workers' rights. I am not in a position to accept this amendment because it seeks a report reviewing the terms, conditions and remunerations afforded to employment holders to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. As I outlined on Committee Stage, conducting a review of this type of activity will be administratively highly burdensome and require a huge amount of time and resources to be dedicated to this. While I appreciate it is a really important …

The number of permits annually is 66,000. The reality is, therefore, that it would absolutely be onerous for us to be have to carry out inspections and checks in each individual case.

I appreciate that, but the only way to identify patterns is to analyse it. Sixty-six thousand is a huge volume. Monitoring those cases would be a significant body of work for my Department to undertake. In the context of the joint labour committees and the idea of raising the bar on a sector-by-sector basis, I fully appreciate this. Earlier today, I signed an order for new pay rates for the contract cleaning sector. We raised the minimum salary threshold for permit holders as well. This is to ensure that they are n…

I thank Senator Higgins for bringing forward this proposed amendment. We discussed this issue on Committee Stage and, as a result, I have now instructed my officials to implement a proposal around referencing the right to join a union in the employment rights information already provided to employment permit holders. I thank those Senators who engaged with me in recent weeks in relation to this matter. There has been a good and positive outcome in this regard. From now on, my officials will be looking to implement …

The amendment seeks to delete Chapter 3 of the Bill, which include sections 10 and 11 which deal with approved seasonal employers. Section 10 provides for the application procedures for employers who wish to become approved seasonal employers. Section 11 provides ministerial power to consider an application from an employer to become an approved seasonal employer and outlines the reasons for refusal that may be taken into account. It is an integral part of the Bill and I will not accept the amendment.

Since 2020, when I was first elected, time and time again I have risen to my feet in support of fundamental rights for Palestinians. Today we raise the Palestinian flag above Dáil Éireann. Today we signal our support for a two-state solution. Today we are proud to be Irish. It is a momentous, significant and historic day. Spain and Norway join us in our recognition of the State of Palestine, and we encourage more countries to do the same because how can we ever get to a two-state solution without recognising Palest…

As the Deputy is aware, the Sick Leave Act 2022 introduced employer-paid, medically certified, statutory sick leave for the first time in Ireland. From 1 January 2023, the initial statutory entitlement was up to three days' sick leave, which increased to five days on 1 January 2024. As the Deputy will be aware, statutory sick leave, and its phased roll-out, was designed in consultation with the Minister for Social Protection and the social partners. A ministerial decision will be required by the end of this year on…

I thank the Deputy. Her suggestion of supporting workers and businesses at the same time is actually something we are already doing in this Government. Only last week, the Minister, Peter Burke, and our team announced additional measures to support businesses, and under this Government, we placed significant emphasis on workers' rights. We put sick pay on a statutory footing for the first time ever. We substantially increased the national minimum wage in January. We introduced the right to request to work from home…

Absolutely not. We are supporting both workers and businesses. We have a legal requirement to have regard to the potential impact of making an order to vary the number of sick days. For that reason, the Minister, Peter Burke, the Minister of State, Dara Calleary, and I have asked the ESRI to provide data so we can make an evidence-based, informed decision because that is what responsible decision-making looks like. We know businesses are struggling and that is why last week we announced a new package of measures. G…

Ireland operates a managed employment permits system which maximises the benefits of economic migration and minimises disruption to Ireland’s labour market. The State's employment permit system is designed to supplement Ireland's skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing enterprises to recruit nationals from outside the European Economic Area, EEA, where such skills or expertise cannot be sourced from within the EEA at that time. There has been a significant increase in demand for employmen…

In the past year, following a review, my Department has implemented changes to the critical skills occupation list, ineligible list of occupants and current salary thresholds for both the general employment permits and the critical skills employment permits. The employment permit section of my Department is also undertaking a range of activities to improve efficiency. That includes the introduction of pre-screening for the general employment permit applications across a small number of key mandatory criteria to ens…

The Deputy is right. Competitiveness is a key issue here. It is important from a business perspective and, in the context of the labour market, it is important that we are paying competitive rates to employees. The Deputy will be aware that one of the things we are piloting is a new seasonal employment permit. That pilot programme was announced and will be happening and we will look at following it through for different sectors. I am aware of issues with the countries which the Deputy named, as well as with Georgia…

I thank all Deputies for this useful discussion on the recent set of measures agreed to reduce costs for small and medium businesses. I would like to begin by reiterating the point made earlier by the Minister that small and medium businesses are vital to the success of the Irish economy. As someone with a business background, I understand the importance of supporting small businesses and how integral they are to local communities, as many Deputies have pointed out, and why we need to future-proof them so that they…

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I would like to welcome Deputy Michael Ring and his guests, Seán and Martina. I am delighted to have the opportunity to present the Employment Permits Bill for consideration by the Seanad today. I thank my predecessors, the Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond, and Deputy Damien English, for their work on this important legislation. The purpose of this Bill is to consolidate and update the existing employment permits law. It contains a number of key improvements, including the ch…

These are technical amendments dealing with minor typographical corrections. I hope we can agree that without debate.

I thank the Civil Engagement Group for all of its work on this. I am aware of the Senator's passion for social justice and the rights of all workers, and I appreciate and value that. The amendment calls for a report to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas reviewing the conditions and wages of workers holding a seasonal employment permit. The Senator is correct; for such workers it is not just about work but also experiencing our country and social inclusion. I understand the concerns she has outlined, but I …

The amendment calls for a report to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining the labour market access available to spouses of employment permit holders. It looks in particular to the gender impact, which I appreciate is the lens the Civil Engagement Group is focusing on. I thank the Senator for the intervention. She has made an important point. Unfortunately, I cannot accept the amendment because spousal access to the labour market and family reunification are the policy responsibility of the Departme…

I thank the Senator very much. "No" is the answer to her question. We do not believe we are doing so. There is a lot of oversight baked into this system. I appreciate the Senator's intention, but I am not in a position to accept the amendment. The amendment seeks a report to review the terms, conditions and remuneration afforded to workers holding regular permits and seasonal permits, broken down by sectoral employment, to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. There are 66,000 active employment permits of v…

The point Senator Black makes is a very interesting one. She is right in what she has said. It may be feasible to include a reference to the right to join a union in the employment rights information that is already being provided to permit holders. I will instruct my officials to work with Senator Black on that.

This amendment adjusts section 8 regarding the non-application of section 7 to certain foreign nationals. Its purpose is to ensure that applicants or those who have been granted status within the meaning of the European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018 can directly access the labour market without a requirement to hold an employment permit in the State. In effect, this amendment excludes international protection applicants from the employment permits legislation while they are under the internati…