John Perry
Question:95 Mr. Perry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has put in place any review of visa applications given the economic down turn and the reduction in the number of jobs. [23307/01]
Priority Questions. - Work Permits.
As Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment one of my main objectives is to promote the ongoing development of the economy and, in the context of policy on economic migration, to mobilise the necessary skills and labour supply in the quantity and quality needed to secure suitable economic growth.
The instruments of economic migration operated by my Department are the work permit scheme and the working authorisation-working visa scheme. In both cases the schemes are vacancy driven and the role my Department plays is to facilitate the entry of migrant workers in response to requests from employers. The admission of migrant workers has been market-led and the onus has been placed on employers to show that a particular individual or group of individuals was required and that no European Economic Area persons were available or willing to take the job.
My Department is reviewing our economic migration policy and practices. This is an ongoing process and I assure the Deputy that I am keeping our policy on economic migration under close review so that it can contribute in a positive way to our future development and prosperity and so that it reflects changing labour market realities occurring in the global economy.
I appreciate that it is important to ensure the quantity and quality of skills necessary is available to improve and develop the market. In the context of addressing the shortage of specific skills, will the Minister indicate the main areas for which work permit applications have been sought? In the aftermath of 11 September and the world wide economic slowdown, does she expect difficulties to arise in certain sectors, especially the tourism sector which utilised this process to employ workers?
Benchmarking of skills is another issue. Many people come into the country with a particular skill and the work available does not match their aspirations. About 75% of all applicants are unskilled. The Department's role is to address the shortage of specific skills especially in relation to sectors experiencing difficulties. What are the main sectors experiencing difficulties now?
The total number of work permit applications in the 12 months to September was 38,037. This year there have been 26,879 to date. Of the total, the number of work permits issued was 34,150. Refusals numbered 707 and 1,128 were withdrawn. The events of 11 September compounded the global downturn already under way but even prior to that we were reviewing the work permit regime in place. We had a very liberal regime over the last number of months because we wished to satisfy the need in the economy. Notwithstanding the stricter criteria now or the closer scrutiny on a sector by sector basis, particularly in tourism, the number of applications remains strong. There may be some lag and we are inquiring from employers who made applications a few weeks ago if their applications are still relevant. In so far as we can ascertain the answer seems to be yes.
The Deputy is correct. Working visas are skills based for the IT sector, nursing, building professionals, engineers and so on but applications across the work permit regime tend to be in the more low skilled area particularly agriculture and fisheries which account for about 4,168 of the figures; catering accounts for 6,991. They seem to be the two main areas where there is a huge demand for labour throughout the country and the economy. There are foreign workers working in low skilled activity in every county. That begs questions of our migration policy. In the context of a downturn those employees are probably less mobile and we must move forward and cease dealing with work permits on a fire brigade basis. Nobody anticipated reaching the situation where we have over 60,000 foreign workers in the country. Our economic transformation was so rapid that none of the economists predicted that. We have the capacity to take the pedal off the work permit regime if there is any sign that the live register is increasing. The employment of our own people and EEA nationals must be the priority.
Is the Minister aware that there are quite a number of people anxious to get back into the workforce but due to the taxation system they are unable to do so? The figure of 60,000 is an issue of concern and the Minister should ensure that they are all doing the work specified on their entry permits. It is important that applications run smoothly but the quality and quantity of the work are very important or we could have a disenfranchised workforce in a short period.
I emphasise that the 60,000 are not all work permits. Many of them are EEA nationals who do not require a permit. One can have an open view as to whether someone should get a permit and be able to move employment and not have bonded labour. Some suggest that is the way forward and that is how we operate at the moment but there are downsides to that. It is a grey area and difficult to have a policy suitable for every situation. That is why we have flexibility and that is the most appropriate way.