Vol. 414 No. 10
8 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Labour whether his attention has been drawn to the concern among members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland with regard to the number of alleged illegal aliens employed in restaurants; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I presume that the Deputy is referring to an unsigned document which purports to represent the views of members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland which has been widely circulated recently. The Restaurants Association of Ireland have disowned the document which expresses concern about the alleged presence of illegal immigrants in Ireland. Matters related to illegal immigration or residence within the State are not within my area of responsibility.
Conditions relating to the entry to the State of non-EC nationals and their residence here are governed by the Aliens Act, 1935, the Aliens Orders, 1946 and 1975, and the European Communities (Aliens) Regulations, 1977. Under that legislation, which is the responsibility of the Minister for Justice, a non-EC national may not take up employment in the State without a work permit issued by my Department. My responsibility, therefore, relates only to the granting of work permits to an employer in respect of the employment of a non-EC national.
Official policy in relation to the issue of work permits is a restrictive one, particularly in view of the current high level of unemployment. In recent years, a number of reforms have been adopted in relation to the consideration of work permit applications, particularly in the case of the ethnic restaurant sector. These reforms were designed to safeguard the interests of Irish restaurants and workers by restricting the number of work permits granted for non-EC nationals. I am satisfied that the system now in place achieves that aim. I am not aware of any suggestions to the contrary.
The number of work permits issued for the catering sector over the last six years is as follows:
|
1985 |
1986 |
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
1990 |
|
250 |
261 |
196 |
183 |
199 |
182 |
Not all of the persons covered by these work permits are employed in the ethnic restaurant sector. For example, some could be for experts employed by major Irish restaurants and hotels or specialist instructors and lecturers employed in cookery training schools.
I am keeping policy relating to the issue of work permits under review. In that context, I will ensure that the liaison which exists between the work permits section of my Department and the Restaurants Association of Ireland will be maintained.
Is the Minister aware of cases of legal immigrants working in restaurants, where the restaurateur, or employer, is not prepared to apply for a work permit and makes it clear to the immigrant that if he or she insists on it, their employment will be discontinued? Has he any mechanism in his Department to provide assistance to such employees who, understandably, do not wish to lose their employment but who do wish to be regularised by having work permits?
I am not so aware. If any information in relation to cases like that is available to the Deputy or to anybody else I should like to have it. There are two sides to this matter. People do have entitlement to work permits. When, for one reason or another, their employers would not want them to have such work permits that would suggest to me that such employers were not interested in meeting their responsibilities on every front, whether it be PRSI contributions, tax or whatever else. I would definitely be glad to hear of any such cases because one does not want to see victimisation either way.
