A radical overhaul of the way employment standards are regulated in order to combat exploitation of immigrants was signalled yesterday by Minister for Employment Micheál Martin.

He said the Government accepted the validity of the arguments made by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) and Siptu on the issue.

Unions are threatening to pull out of social partnership in the absence of specific Government commitments on measures to tackle exploitation and prevent a "race to the bottom" in employment standards.

Mr Martin, speaking at the launch of a report on the role of migration in meeting future skills needs, said it was important that social partnership continued.

"We are open to the agenda that Ictu has put before us. I'm not pre-empting what the Government's position would be but we're anxious that there would be a social partnership agreement."

The Government, he said, did not want to see economic migration used as a tool to engineer "a downward spiral in pay and conditions" .

"We accept the point . . . that Ictu and Siptu have made that we need to look radically at our labour laws and compliance with our labour laws," he said.

Mr Martin said that because of the transformation brought about by economic migration, he had indicated to Siptu that he was "very open" to examining issues such as the model of compliance that is being used and the need for additional resources in the area.

The report of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, launched by the Minister, said many of Ireland's skill and labour requirements can be met from within the European Economic Area.

Since the accession of ten new member states to the EU, some 215 million workers from EEA countries have direct access to an Irish labour market of two million.

It is envisaged that the vast majority of low-skilled jobs in particular can be filled by workers from the EEA, which comprises the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

But the report does identify areas where skills gaps occur across the economy, including construction, finance, engineering, information technology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and sales.

It is in these areas that the expert group recommends green cards should be provided to attract high-skilled workers from outside the EU.

Unlike work permit holders, those with green cards would be entitled to permanent residency and could change jobs without permission from the State.