Recent reports by the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the International Labour Organization and Amnesty International indicate that the practice of linking a worker to a single employer and limiting the options to change employer contributes to exposing migrant workers to greater risk of labour exploitation. A 2009 UN report on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, called for the abolition of immigration regimes that tie a visa to the sponsorship of a single employer. The EU Commission has also looked at establishing a framework for work permits and has indicated in its proposals that the work permit should not be limited to only one employer but should be related to the sector of specialisation.
The lack of freedom to change employer is also a major factor in workers becoming undocumented in Ireland. MRCI has assisted hundreds of workers who have become undocumented after falling out of the permit system. This occurred when workers left exploitative employment or when false promises were made by their employer that a permit would be renewed. This phenomenon has been acknowledged by the Government's undocumented workers scheme. However, the primary cause of workers becoming undocumented has still not been addressed.
MRCI believes that a better and fairer employment permit system would be one in which employment permits are granted to workers within a designated job category, with the right to freely change their employer. Freedom to change employer is not a new or radical idea as it existed previously under the working visa authorisation scheme in Ireland. What is required is a simple, minor administrative change so that when a worker decides to change employer he or she would simply register the change with the employment permit section. This basic change would provide significant benefits and does not require a complete overhaul of the employment permit system.
Importantly, this change would not undermine current Government control of the system and the prioritisation of EEA workers. The Government would continue to regulate the granting of initial permits or permits for occupations where gaps are determined and where labour market needs tests have been undertaken to ensure that local workers from within the European Union are not available to fill a job in the first instance. The benefits of such a change would give existing employment permit holders a chance to leave exploitative employment and report it to authorities. It would protect compliant employers and labour standards from being undermined by those who take advantage of those on permits.
It would reduce Government administration costs and delays by reducing the number of new work permit applications sent for redundancy or other changes. It would assist permit holders to get back into employment more quickly and reduce the total amount claimed in unemployment benefits, and would help employers to fill specific skill shortages more efficiently with workers already in the State possessing these skills. Mr. Codd is before the committee today and he can answer any questions the members of the committee may have in this respect.
We have been advocating for the right to change employers since the new Employment Permit Act came into effect in early 2007. We have written to and met on multiple occasions officials in the employment permit section and with no less than three Ministers of State for labour affairs, but there has been little or no movement on this issue. Members of our action groups, including our restaurant workers action group, our domestic workers action group and the migrants forum, continue to raise the right to change employer as a central issue, and in light of this MRCI began a campaign with the goal of seeking the right to change employer earlier this year.
Thousands of migrant workers and allies in the trade union movement, employers, the faith community and human rights organisations have joined us in this campaign. Hundreds and hundreds of letters have been written to the Minister, Deputy O'Keeffe, and the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary. I do not propose to take the committee through all the Government responses as they have been given to the committee but I draw the attention of the committee to one specific response. The Government has stated that if employees were allowed to move jobs freely within a sector it becomes more difficult to ensure that an employee's rights are respected. We believe this position is fundamentally flawed and is contrary to the evidence and experience of ourselves and the international rights organisations we have mentioned. When given options, workers are those who are best positioned to protect themselves from exploitation, not the State.
In conclusion, we have consulted widely with various political parties and worker and employer bodies such as ICTU, IBEC and Chambers Ireland. There is widespread consensus that the right to freely change employer makes good sense and is the right thing to do. In fact, we have just commissioned an Ipsos MRBI opinion poll on this issue and in the midst of the current economic downturn and the jobs crisis which we are experiencing, preliminary results show that 60% of the public believe that permit holders should have the right to change employer without condition. MRCI feels strongly that the permit system would be greatly improved for all stakeholders if this minor administrative change were made so that workers can freely change employer. Each day that passes without action from the Government enables this kind of exploitation and injustice to continue. I thank the committee for the opportunity and we will welcome any comments and questions.
