The House passed the Employment Permits Bill 2003 granting full labour market access to nationals of the EU accession states from May of next year.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, said that from the accession date, nationals of those countries would no longer require employment permits to work in Ireland.
"The Bill also puts in place a safeguard mechanism whereby a requirement for employment permits may be reintroduced in respect of nationals of the relevant countries, should the Irish labour market suffer an unexpected disturbance during a transitional period after EU enlargement takes place." She added that the Bill also incorporated a provision whereby, for the first time, a requirement for employment permits relating to non-nationals working in Ireland was set out specifically in dedicated primary legislation together with penalties for non-compliance by employers and employees.
An additional 10 countries would be admitted to the EU from May of next year, she said. They were the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus.
Mr Gerard Murphy (FG, Cork North-West) and Mr Simon Coveney (FG, Cork South Central) said there was a need for a co-ordinated and comprehensive immigration policy to deal with asylum-seekers, refugees, work permits, students and holiday visas. Mr Coveney said that people needed to be itemised because the system was a mess. "We need a more comprehensive and detailed policy to deal with each itemised area."
Mr Tommy Broughan (Labour, Dublin North East) said his party had grave reservations about many aspects of the Bill. The work permit system should apply to the workers and not to employers, he said. "In modern Ireland there should not be some form of indentured labour or bonded serfdom, which is a medieval concept."
Mr Arthur Morgan (SF, Louth) said he welcomed the Bill, although he had reservations about some elements.
