Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2004
429 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will consider giving the right to work to asylum seekers whose applications have not been processed within six months of arrival here. [31110/04]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 308 of 9 November. The position remains unchanged and it is not proposed to allow asylum applicants to take up paid employment pending a final decision being made on their applications.
There are a number of key reasons I believe that the current policy in respect of access to work by asylum seekers should not be changed. Section 9 (4)(b) of the Refugee Act 1996, as amended, provides, inter alia, that an applicant for asylum shall not seek or enter employment. It must also be borne in mind that, under the 1996 Act, asylum seekers only have temporary permission to remain in the State pending the determination of their applications. However, we must face the fact that, despite its humanitarian purpose, people seek protection under the 1996 Act — which gives effect to the State’s obligations under the 1951 Geneva Convention — for the purpose of avoiding legitimate immigration controls to gain a foothold in the State for economic reasons. Similar trends have been experienced by other EU states.
I am convinced that any extension of the right to work arrangement would greatly undermine the considerable progress that has been made in respect of asylum processing arising from the Government's asylum strategy which has resulted in more speedy decisions in relation to applications for refugee status. The continued momentum in processing timescales for asylum applications has resulted, for example, in a situation where prioritised applications receive an interview and decision at first instance within six weeks of application and timescales for considering appeals have also been reduced considerably. The number of applications over six months in the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal at the end of October 2004 stood at 1,396 as compared to some 6,500 at the end of September 2001.
Extending the right to work would have a negative impact on asylum numbers, as was experienced in the aftermath of the July 1999 decision to do so. The immediate effect of that measure was a threefold increase in the average number of applications per month leading to a figure of 1,217 applications in December 1999, compared with an average of 364 per month for the period January to July 1999. Any significant increase in applications would also have a negative impact on our capacity to accommodate asylum applicants while they are awaiting a determination of their claims. As things stand at the moment, the ongoing provision of services to meet the reception, health, welfare and accommodation needs of asylum seekers is an enormous challenge for all the State agencies who work in this area. The total cost to the Exchequer of the provision of services to asylum seekers was approximately €353 million in 2003.
Any proposal to grant asylum seekers access to the labour market would also undermine the current and effective work permit system which provides a comprehensive channel for legal migration to the State. It would further widen the gap in a negative manner in terms of reward between those who access the labour market legally through the work permit and visa channels and those who simply abuse the asylum process to gain entry.
It is a well established fact that those engaged in trafficking and those seeking to access the labour market without going through the appropriate legal channels are very quick to identify any perceived attractiveness of a country as a preferred or easily accessed destination. It is clear from the profile of applicants and the results of the determination process that a significant number of people have sought asylum in Ireland with a view to seeking work. Many people are already working illegally. It is my strong belief that any extension of the right to work along the lines proposed by the Deputy would be portrayed abroad by people traffickers to potential victims as a cast iron guarantee of a right to work.
I firmly believe that the greatest service we can provide to those who should be recognised as refugees is to ensure that their claims are decided speedily and that nothing is done which undermines this policy priority by attracting large numbers of non-genuine applicants to the detriment of genuine applicants. The structures in place provide the State with an asylum system that meets the highest international standards and fulfils our international obligations under the Geneva Convention to those seeking asylum. Overloading the process with large numbers of new applicants who come here under the misguided expectation that they will be able to work would be totally contrary to these obligations and could completely negate the major investment in effort, time and resources which has gone into bringing our overall strategy to its current status.
