Vol. 510 No. 2
3 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of work permits issued to asylum seekers since the Government announcement in July 1999 that refugees who are in Ireland for a particular period of time would be eligible for work permits; the regulations which apply to the granting of these work permits; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22017/99]
Non-nationals who are granted refugee status do not need work permits to work here.
In so far as asylum seekers who have not received a determination of their applications for refugee status are concerned, the Government decided on 26 July, as an exceptional measure, that those who had been in the country for more than twelve months should be given the right to seek work here and that requests from employers for work permits to employ them would be generally facilitated. This arrangement would also apply to those who sought asylum here up to 26 July as soon as they crossed the 12-month threshold.
In addition to these conditions the Government also decided that, in order to qualify, such persons must have been complying with their obligations as asylum seekers during the period concerned.
To date a total of 15 permits have been issued by my Department in respect of qualifying asylum seekers.
Did the Minister say that only 15 permits have been issued since July?
Yes.
Is the Minister aware that the regulations and rules attaching to the way in which asylum seekers can get work permits are causing problems? Has she any proposals to change the rules and regulations attached to giving work permits to asylum seekers? The employer has to advertise and go through certain procedures now. Given the fanfare that accompanied this, it is an absolute disgrace that only 15 asylum seekers have been able to get work permits when we know there are jobs out there. Will the Minister change any of the rules?
We have changed many of the rules, for example, the old rule whereby an employer had to prove that he or she could not get an Irish person to do the job. When matters are brought to my attention, if an employer is prepared to give somebody a job, I accept that in the vast majority of cases it is a genuine fact that they have made every effort. We do not need to go through the kind of procedure we had in the past.
However, there are a number of difficulties. There is much short-term employment available at the moment. Some of the recruitment agencies have been in contact with my Department and with my programme manager with a view to establishing whether we would grant asylum seekers a work permit for, perhaps, a three-month period. The rule in the Department was for a minimum of 13 weeks. I want to change that because clearly the idea of not doing something worthwhile for the sake of a week is not good. In my experience the main problem seems to be in trying to match people seeking asylum with employers, in the first instance, trying to find who they are and where they are. I understand there are at least 2,000 people who qualify to be granted work permits. I hope discussions I had earlier this week with officials and recruitment companies will lead to the establishment of a practical and sensible way of linking people with jobs. Some employers have told me that some asylum seekers are not keen to give details of their names, addresses and so on, but that is probably a minority. There is huge scope to employ, perhaps not 2,000, but certainly a substantial number of those who are currently awaiting the determination of their asylum status.
The Minister said that 15 permits have been granted since July. How many applications have been made since July?
As far as I know there were 15.
All 15 applications that were made were granted?
I think so, yes. There are some at the moment relating to the length of time for which a permit can be granted, which I hope we can resolve.
I assume the Minister is not satisfied that only 15 have been granted.
No.
Even John O'Donoghue would grant 15.
Question No. 4 is a priority question.
Perhaps we could check up on who will take Question No. 4 and with the permission of the House I will move on to Question No. 5.
