Migrant workers to be protected by legislation

NEW protections for migrant workers will prevent the type of exploitation that occurred with Turkish Gama workers happening again, Enterprise and Employment Minister Micheál Martin said yesterday.

The minister said the Employment Permits Bill 2005, published yesterday, will transform the legal status of migrant workers in Ireland.

The new legislation, details of which appeared in the Irish Examiner last week, will ensure that the work permit will in future be held by the employee and not by the employer, as is the case at present.