Urgent meetings are to begin between three Government Departments to establish procedures to implement the Cabinet decision to allow asylum-seekers to work in the State. However, it could be some months before access to the labour market becomes a reality for many and there is potential for considerable confusion and administrative anomalies.
There are three Departments involved in the implementation of the scheme and there was considerable confusion among them yesterday about what rights asylum-seekers eligible to work would have, as well as the actual numbers who would be eligible.
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform estimated that "not more than 2,000 people" would benefit, while the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which will issue the work permits, thought that "up to 3,000" could be involved. The Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs said it would have to consult the other two Departments before it was clear what the ramifications of the Cabinet decision were.
The degree of access that asylum-seekers will have to the labour market is equally unclear. The Department of Enterprise said asylum-seekers had been granted the right to work, but not the right to enter FAS training schemes, or apply at National Manpower offices to look for jobs.
Instead, asylum-seekers will have to find an employer willing to seek a work permit on their behalf. This will be issued through the Department of Enterprise in consultation with the Department of Justice. Permits are renewable on a yearly basis.
One anomaly in the new system is that asylum-seekers who obtain employment will be able to access FAS schemes through the agency's in-company training programme. Asylum-seekers who fail to find a job will be able to switch from living on supplementary welfare, issued through community welfare officers at health centres, to unemployment assistance. This will be on the basis that they are available for work.
Both schemes are means tested and the differential in payments is quite small, about £1.50p a week. However, access to unemployment assistance could be significant for asylum-seekers, who are kept waiting over a year to have their appeal heard. Once someone has been in receipt of unemployment assistance for more than 12 months, they can become eligible for schemes to improve their access to the labour market, such as community employment and the back-to-work allowance. As some asylum-seekers have been waiting up to three years for their cases to be heard, this could prove far better than surviving on supplementary welfare.
In the case of asylum-seekers who decide to claim unemployment assistance, the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs says they will have to obtain identity cards from the Department of Justice. The latter already provides identity cards to applicants for supplementary welfare, so this should be a relatively simple process.
The Cabinet decision has met with general approval from those involved in representing the interests of asylum-seekers, such as the Irish Refugee Council and the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Inter-culturalism. However, the council proposes that asylum-seekers be given work permits direct, rather than through employers and the committee suggests that special courses be provided by the Department of Education and Science to enhance their language skills and general employability.
SIPTU, the State's largest union, has urged asylum-seekers looking for work to join a trade union. Its national equality officer, Ms Rosheen Callender, said the union "is determined that asylum-seekers who find work in Ireland enjoy the full protection of our employment and equality laws".