The Minister for Labour Affairs has ruled out changing the system to allow migrant workers the right to freely change employer.
Under the current system, employment permit holders are only allowed to work for the employer named on their permit and are only allowed to seek a change of employer after a 12-month period.
Dara Calleary told the Oireachtas Enterprise Committee that there were sufficient safeguards in the legislation introduced in 2006 to ensure that permits are only issued in the name of bone fide employers.
Minister Calleary said the improvements introduced to protect migrant workers are considerable but he emphasised that the need to retain the link to the employer was essential.
The Migrant Rights Centre is campaigning to give migrant workers the right to change employer freely and to abolish the attachment to a named employer.
Committee Chairman Willie Penrose raised the issue of the cost to the worker if they want to change employer. Mr Penrose said the cost of between €500 and €1,500 was prohibitive to seeking a change.
Minister Calleary said in the past two years 2,000 new permits were issued to employees who wanted to change employer so the willingness was there.
