Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 December 2017
94. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the way in which the right to work will be restricted for refugees in the category of work and-or timeframes; and the date on which the new provisions will apply to allow refugees to begin to work. [51751/17]
View answerAll persons granted refugee status in Ireland have the right to work on the same basis as Irish nationals. Under Section 16(3)(b) of the International Protection Act, 2015, an applicant for international protection (asylum seeker/applicant for subsidiary protection) is prohibited from accessing or seeking to access the labour market while their application is being determined.
On 30 May last, the Supreme Court judgment in the case of N.V.H. v. The Minister for Justice and Equality found that in an international protection system with no temporal limits as to when the application process will be concluded, an absolute prohibition on the right to work for international protection applicants is contrary to the right to seek employment under the Constitution. The Court recognised that this is a matter for the Executive and Legislature to consider and accordingly adjourned consideration of the Order the Court should make for a period of six months.
Following the approval of Government, I established an Inter-Departmental Taskforce in July to examine the wide-ranging implications of the judgment, and to consider appropriate solutions. The Taskforce was comprised of representatives from nine Government Department, along with the Office of the Attorney General.
On 21 November 2017, the Government approved the recommendations of the Taskforce, including the key recommendation that the State should respond to the judgment by opting-in to the EU (Recast) Reception Conditions Directive (2013/33/EU).
This solution was presented to the Supreme Court on 30 November 2017. The Court in making its Final Orders agreed to a stay on the execution of the Order until 9 February 2018. My officials are actively engaged in ensuring compliance with the Order.
My Department is also in the process of arranging for the Motions to be brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Following the approval of both Houses, the opt-in procedure with the formal notifications to the European Council and the European Commission will commence. The European Commission then has four months from receipt of this letter to confirm our participation. During these four months, the State will be required to demonstrate to the Commission how it is compliant with each Article in the Directive.
The EU Directive provides, inter-alia, that international protection applicants shall have access to the labour market no later than nine months from the date the application for international protection was lodged, if a first instance decision has not been taken and if the delay cannot be attributed to the applicant.
The Government has established an Implementation Group to oversee the opt-in procedure and the practical arrangements for facilitating access to the labour market for eligible applicants. The Group will be drawn from the membership of the Taskforce, supplemented by the participation of relevant operational areas in my own Department and in other Departments as required.
