Work permit clampdown after scams exposed

THE Government is to clamp down on work permits for foreigners after the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment uncovered a series of large-scale immigrant scams.

Two schemes allowing foreign workers to come into the country without permits have been scrapped following widespread abuse by recruitment companies.

Three cases which involved more than 100 illegal immigrants being brought in under false pretences are being investigated by the Tánaiste's department.

Internal correspondence from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, obtained by the Irish Examiner, shows evidence of systematic abuse of immigration laws including:

The placing of more than 80 workers from Eastern Europe in a meat plant in Tipperary resulting in Irish employees allegedly being laid off.

An attempt to transfer a group of experienced butchers from Botswana to a company in Cavan, ostensibly for training.

An effort to bring a group from the Czech Republic to a Dublin firm to spend 12 months training to make sandwiches.

Some recruitment agencies had jobs lined up for workers and in some cases were pocketing 2 per hour from the workers' wages as commission.

The Government is to scrap two schemes after a probe by Tánaiste Mary Harney's department:

The inter-company transfer scheme, intended for senior executives in multinationals to transfer between countries globally .

The trainee scheme, allowing firms to transfer staff here for up to three years.

In a confidential memo dated October 29 to the Tánaiste a senior official tells her of the urgency to shut down the two schemes due to the number of scams.

"The abuse of the transfer facility is now happening on a large-scale, systematic basis and, if ignored, has the capacity to undermine the entire system," the memo read.

In another memo, officials raised concerns about lap dancers, exploiting a clause in our work permit legislation. This clause was for music bands and film crews.

"I'm not satisfied that facilitating the employment of lap dancers or their equivalent could be regarded as essential to maintaining our competitiveness."

Firms seeking to bring in staff have to obtain permission from the department, which also clears the applications with IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.

In spite of the economic downturn, demand for work permits by employers has continued to grow and is expected to top the 40,000 mark by the end of the year.