A call was made yesterday for the establishment of a dedicated agency for the integration of migrants and their families as part of a major overhaul of Irish immigration policy.
The appeal was made at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, which heard evidence relating to abuse of migrant workers, highlighted in a recent Prime Time documentary on RTÉ.
In a presentation to the committee, the Irish Immigration Council recommended that the Taoiseach appoint a minister for state dedicated to immigration and ethnic affairs.
Ms Denise Charlton, director of the council, said an overhaul of immigration policy was needed to help combat ongoing discrimination against foreign workers.
She said immigration policy to date had been "marked by poor co-ordination" between the bodies responsible for areas affecting recent immigrants, including five government departments and the Garda Síochána.
There was a need for a "robust cross-departmental mechanism to co-ordinate the roles and activities of respective departments and agencies," she said.
Ms Charlton said there needed to be a public debate on immigration and diversity to combat increasing "myths and stereotypes" about migrants. These included misplaced beliefs that most migrants were asylum-seekers, were not working and were a burden on the taxpayer.
The council also believed there needed to be an overhaul of the work-permit system, to combat exploitation of over 50,000 non-EU nationals currently working in Ireland.
These include the extension of work permits to two-year periods, along with automatic naturalisation rights after migrants are resident for a certain period.
Fianna Fáil TD for Waterford, Mr Ollie Wilkinson, said he was "quite shocked" at cases which had come to his personal attention, including instances of people being under-paid, getting no overtime and working long hours.
A number of TDs and senators, including Mr Gerard Murphy of Fine Gael and Mr Joe Callanan of Fianna Fáil, raised concerns about the fact that work permits were tied to specific employers, which meant migrant workers were often afraid to speak out because of a fear of losing their job and being sent home.
Officials from the Department of Enterprise and Employment said the vast majority of businesses with migrant workers were adhering to legislation.
A new computer system, coupled with information-sharing with agencies and the Revenue Commissioners, had enabled labour inspectors to target those flouting employment law.