Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

An issue has arisen but I have not had an opportunity to table an amendment on it yet. It relates to the establishment of the need to grant certain employment permits and how that might be advertised or how an individual or company would make people aware of that. The Bill refers to the notice being published on "one or more online platforms". I have a concern because there is such a proliferation of platforms and the legislation is not specific in ensuring that the notice is published on a mainstream platform. We all know, from an Internet perspective, of the multiplicity of sites. I ask that the Department would consider, either through an amendment on Report Stage, if possible, or through regulation, the inclusion of platforms owned by a national news publisher. The principle here is about, first, establishing whether there is somebody within the State who has an entitlement to work here and if so, then he or she has first dibs on a job. The permit is only issued in the event that there is nobody available within Ireland or the EEA or among those who have a right to live here. I am not being in any way nationalistic about this but it is important that we protect the essence of what we are trying to achieve, which is to give somebody an opportunity in the State to apply for a job, if such exists. I am not convinced by the language used in this section. Maybe there is something elsewhere in the Bill that broadens this but I am not convinced that it is strong enough to ensure there is an obligation on the person offering a job to advertise it to the greatest extent possible so that it is seen by all those who are eligible within our jurisdiction, such that there may not be a requirement to issue a permit at all.

We need to ensure that a national news publisher is included in some shape or form here. Secondary to that, it would be a way of supporting our public service journalism, although that is not the primary objective of my comments. I am principally concerned to ensure that the public at large knows that a job is available. We have all heard of unscrupulous employers who are trying to find cheap labour elsewhere. There are certain barriers and restrictions surrounding the issuance of a permit that eliminate that to some degree but we know there are some who would be happy to get a work permit and bring somebody in from outside. There is an obligation to try domestically first and that is why the notice has to be published in the first instance.It used to be that people had to advertise in a national newspaper for, say, three days and document all of that. It is my reading of the Bill that this is watered down here. If this cannot be done by way of amendment, I ask the Minister of State to look at some other way, such as the making of a regulation at the end of the passage of the legislation. I know the Bill provides for secondary legislation and perhaps it can be stitched in there. Any clarification that the Minister of State can provide would be welcome.