I move amendment No. 8: In page 14, line 9, to delete "Public Expenditure and Reform" and substitute "Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform".

I move amendment No. 10: In page 18, to delete lines 34 to 37 and substitute the following: "(j) to provide for the employment in the State of a foreign national who is employed by an approved seasonal employer— (i) in a seasonally recurrent employment specified in regulations made under subsection (4)(a) , and (ii) during a period specified in regulations made under subsection (4)(b) , (in this Act referred to as a "seasonal employment permit")."

I move amendment No. 12: In page 19, to delete lines 3 to 8 and substitute the following: "(4) The Minister may make regulations— (a) without prejudice to the generality of section 41(2)(b) , specifying the seasonally recurrent employments for which a seasonal employment permit may be granted, and (b) specifying the period or periods in a period of 12 months during which a foreign national may be employed in the State pursuant to a seasonal employment permit, each such period being not less than 3 and not more than…

I move amendment No. 14: In page 19, to delete lines 9 to 13.

I move amendment No. 16: In page 19, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “CHAPTER 3 Approved seasonal employer Application for approval as approved seasonal employer 10. (1) A person who wishes to employ a foreign national under a seasonal employment permit shall apply each year for approval as an approved seasonal employer in accordance with regulations under sections 41 and 44 . (2) In considering an application made under subsection (1) , the Minister shall have regard to— (a) the extent to which a…

I move amendment No. 17: In page 19, line 22, to delete "subsection" and substitute "subsections".

I move amendment No. 18: In page 19, to delete line 31.

I move amendment No. 19: In page 19, to delete line 36 and substitute the following: "employment, or (d) where the application is made in respect of a seasonal employment permit, the application shall be made by the person proposing to employ the foreign national who is, at the time of the making of the application, an approved seasonal employer."”.

I move amendment No. 20: In page 20, lines 5 and 6, to delete "period preceding the application" and substitute "period, preceding the application,".

I move amendment No. 21: In page 25, line 10, to delete "paragraph or paragraphs" and substitute "provision or provisions".

I move amendment No. 22: In page 25, line 38, after " 9 ," to insert " 10 ,".

I move amendment No. 23: In page 26, line 6, to delete "by" and substitute "subject to sections 25 and 27 , by". This is a technical amendment to insert cross-references to sections provided for by the proposed amendment No. 30. While amendment No. 23 is a technical amendment, this grouping deals with the proposed new sections 25 to 28, inclusive, which deal with employees changing employers and applications for employment permits. These provisions will introduce a facility for employment permit holders to easily t…

I move amendment No. 24: In page 27, line 3, to delete "and".

I move amendment No. 25: In page 27, line 5, to delete " section 9(2)(i) ."” and substitute the following: " section 9(2)(i) , and (c) a seasonal employment permit shall not exceed the period referred to in section 9(2)(j)(ii) .".

I move amendment No. 26: In page 28, line 1, after "employment" to insert "permit".

I thank the Deputy for this proposed amendment, and I assure her that I still am a member of a trade union and will continue to be. I am delighted to see my own union accepting the results of the public pay talks. Regarding this issue, as the Deputy has already alluded to, my predecessor had instructed officials to investigate this issue following debate on Committee Stage. Officials have noted that the intention of the Deputy’s amendment is already provided for in the regulation-making powers of this Bill. Therefo…

I move amendment No. 28: In page 32, line 9, to delete “evidence” and substitute “such evidence".

I move amendment No. 29: In page 36, to delete lines 12 to 16 and substitute the following: “(ii) where appropriate, the hourly rate referred to in subsection (3) , and additional payment referred to in subsection (3) is to be made, the amount of the additional payment to be made by the contractor or the subcontractor to the foreign national for the period for which the employment permit is in force, in such form as may be specified in regulations under section 44 ,”.

I move amendment No. 30: In page 37, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “Change of employer: application and approval of change 25. (1) This section applies where— (a) a general employment permit or a critical skills employment permit has been granted to a foreign national, (b) a prescribed period has elapsed since the foreign national first commenced employment in the State pursuant to an employment permit, and (c) the permit referred to in paragraph (a) is in force and will remain in force for at l…

This amendment would add a new provision to the Bill that would effectively blacklist employers for any WRC breaches, not just conviction through the courts. This would represent a major change to the labour market enforcement system as it applies to the third-country nationals employed under an employment permit. It is not the intention of the employment permits legislation to lock employers out of the system for all breaches. Furthermore, it is also not our intention to create a parallel system of employment law …