607 Mr. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his policies in relation to entitlements and equality treatments of the families of persons attracted and encouraged here under work permits and more specifically working visa scheme for information technology and medical professionals; if the restrictions on wives, teenage and college student children getting full or part-time work can be lifted; if the need for work permits for these can be lifted as part of friendly family policies; if embassies and FÁS recruitment drives abroad are giving misleading information; if entitlements to second and third-level free fees can be outlined; and if changes can be brought forward in this regard. [13401/02]
Written Answers. - Visa Applications.
Question:
As Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I have responsibility for policy in relation to family re-union – that is the policy in relation to granting permission to enter and remain in the State to the spouses and children of non-EEA nationals who are legally resident in the State. This includes the spouses and children of non-EEA nationals who have entered the State for work purposes. While I have responsibility also in relation to the protection of their rights under equality legislation, their entitlement to other benefits is a matter for other Ministers as part of the mainstream provision of various services.
I fully acknowledge that family reunion policy should recognise the needs of persons coming to Ireland to work and be in accordance with the broad needs of Irish economy. However it must also embody reasonable safeguards. While in most cases where a person comes to Ireland in order to take up employment, everything will go according to plan, unfortunately the experience is sometimes not so straightforward. The concern therefore has been that were a person's family to join them immediately and they were then to lose their job or otherwise become a burden on the State the costs involved are likely to be much higher and the prospect of securing the person's departure much lower, given that their family will have settled here and formed links.
Having regard to the foregoing, policy operates in the following manner. There is no general policy of restriction in operation in relation to family reunion where the family members in question are not visa required. The only caveat is that the worker in question must be in a position to support the family without recourse to public funds. The spouses and children of the vast majority of foreign workers in the State fall into this category. There are restrictions on family reunion for visa required family members since in general terms persons from visa required countries pose the greater immigration related risks. In the case of visa-required family members of non EEA national workers, the general rule is that it is only after the worker has been in the State for 12 months and has been offered employment for a further 12 months that they may be joined by their families. Again, this is subject to the worker being able to support the family without recourse to public funds.
In 2000, the aforementioned 12 month waiting period was reduced to three months by my predecessor in the case of the family members of workers operating in certain specified high skill areas covered by the working visa programme. The considerations underpinning this policy in the case of visa required family members is to ensure that that the worker's presence in Ireland has a degree of stability and is likely to be for the longer term. In such circumstances it is humanitarian and generally appropriate to allow family reunion. Our practice avoids us allowing family reunion to persons whose employment relationship is not yet "up and running" and where that relationship may prove to be short-term. Our approach is broadly in line with international practice.
In relation to equality entitlements of work permit holders and their families, the Employment Equality Act, 1998, and the Equal Status Act, 2000, outlaw discrimination on nine distinct grounds, namely, gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community in the work place and in the provision of goods and services. Work permit holders would be entitled to the protection offered under both Acts in relation to employment and the provision of goods and services. Family members, not in possession of a work permit, would nat urally only come within the provisions of the Equal Status Act, 2000.