Tánaiste announces new Work Permit legislation

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Harney, has announced that the Government has approved the Heads of a new Bill to put Ireland's work permit regime on a modern statutory footing.

The new Bill will set out the legislative framework for employment permits, including work permits, working visas, work authorisations and similar instruments which allow the employment of non-EEA nationals in Ireland.

The legislation will also provide the basis for prescribing the eligibility criteria and conditions attached to the awarding of work permits.

At present, the primary legislation in Ireland governing the issue of Employment Permits is the Aliens Act, 1935 and subsequent Orders made under that Act.

A central feature of the proposed new legislation is that it will make it a specific offence for an employer to employ, without an Employment Permit, a person in respect of whom such a permit is necessary. It will also constitute an offence for a non-EEA national to work within the State in the absence of an appropriate Employment Permit.

Announcing the proposed new legislation, the Tánaiste said: "Currently, all non-EEA nationals coming to work in Ireland with the benefit of a work permit enjoy the same rights and protection under Irish labour law as do Irish citizens.

"However, the employment of persons who do no have a permit to work in the State puts the employees in question in danger of exploitation and jeopardises the State's capacity to ensure that they receive the full benefits of Ireland's social protection framework. There is a real danger that illegal employment could call into question the very liberal and flexible employment permit facilities now in operation."

She added: "Employers employing persons not authorised to work in the State could also gain an unfair competitive advantage over those employers who choose to comply with the law and meet their wider obligations under employment law."

The Bill will also allow for greater transparency in the operation and administration of the Employment Permit system, the putting in place of appropriate monitoring and review arrangements as well as the introduction of appropriate penalties for both employer and employee for breaches of the Act.

The scale of penalties attaching to offences will be decided following the advice of the Government's legal advisors.

(CL)