I am grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter and I wish the new Minister of State with responsibility for integration well since I have not had the opportunity to do so since she was appointed. I look forward to hearing her response to the important pamphlet, Hidden Message — Overt Agendas, prepared for the Migrant Rights Centre.

It is especially timely given the dramatic reversal in the country's economic fortunes. The spectrum of welcome that existed for migrants at the height of the boom becomes somewhat narrowed in a time of recession. This imposes higher demands on political leadership. The breadth of welcome for migrant workers at the height of the boom was somewhat surprising until one understood that certain sections of Irish society, not well known for their liberal disposition, were motivated by considerations of cheap labour. The availability of a pool of cheap labour — young, educated, disciplined, willing, non-trade union organised workers — left some employers with stars in their eyes.

Some of these same employers have exploited the indefensible arrangement whereby the current employment permits system binds the migrant worker to a particular employer. Currently, the system requires that a worker must stay a minimum of 12 months with an employer, pay another permit fee of €1,000 and wait several months, during which time they are not allowed to work, before an application to change employer can be processed. I submit that bonded labour in 2010 is a scandal. One of its many consequences is to undermine good employers as others take advantage of bonded workers. The spectacle of hundreds of migrant workers queuing for days for re-entry visas cannot be defended. What would be our response if Irish workers were treated in this fashion in London or Los Angeles?

This report traces the positive statements of several Ministers and then compares it to the practice, hence the title, Hidden Messages — Overt Agendas. The report shows that many of the fine sentiments written for Ministers are mitigated by actions taken at the direction of the same Ministers.

One of the success stories of our experience of significant inward migration for the first time in our history is the performance of our schools. Our teachers have done an excellent job, sometimes in almost impossible circumstances. Our problems as a society really only begin outside the school gate. If we persist in cutting the number of English language support teachers in primary schools, we are inviting additional difficulties.

We now have an employment crisis. People contacted me as recently as Saturday last claiming that they and their colleagues had been made redundant and replaced by migrant workers prepared to work for less than the going rate. The only solution to this problem is better invigilation of standards in the workplace which makes it regrettable that the Government has only partially delivered on its promises on labour inspectors, something for which I have consistently campaigned.

This is a comprehensive and seamless document, to which I cannot do justice in the time allowed in an Adjournment Debate. However, we must debate it because of the importance for our society of the issues raised. I conclude by endorsing the warning in the report that "Migration is not a phenomenon that can be switched on and off to suit the needs of the host economy." As a society, we must come to grips with the implications of that warning.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to comment on it. As the Deputy indicates, this document was published by the Migrant Rights Centre. Since taking office as Minister of State with special responsibility for equality, integration and human rights, I have made it my business to meet as many people and organisations involved in the integration field in different parts of the country as I possibly can. From them I am learning of the challenges that face us as a country in integrating newcomers and the way we are responding to those challenges. Among the bodies I have met has been the Migrant Rights Centre and I greatly admire the work of the centre in helping migrants.

As is indicated in the matter tabled by the Deputy, the Migrant Rights Centre published this document but it should be acknowledged that it was written by Mr. Niall Crowley, a person who is a respected advocate for equality and for the marginalised over many years as chief executive of the Equality Authority and in the NGO sector.

In March this year, the Minister of State, Deputy John Curran, as Minister of State with responsibility for integration, issued the following statements in response to the Migrant Rights Centre pamphlet. In the context of this office, no reference is made to the grants given to national groups in various fields to support integration in sporting and cultural fields as well as grants made available to local authorities to support integration in their own areas.

The pamphlet quotes correctly the McCarthy report as recommending that the Office of the Minister for Integration should be abolished and that language support teachers in schools should be reduced from 2,200 to 500. The Government did not abolish this office and the reduction in language support teachers was to approximately 1,500 at a cost, incidentally, of about €100 million. The pamphlet does not record this fact.

In dealing with the live register the author claims that, in previous recessions, the numbers on the register were in some way hostile to women and older people and, as a consequence, apparently massaged to show a lower total. While it is not germane to the current pamphlet, it is difficult to see how paying pensions instead of unemployment benefits would have been of financial benefit to the governments of those years. In this recession the author claims that the Government is encouraging migrants to return home as a means of reducing the numbers on the live register.

In dealing with racism, the author states that in 2007, there were 224 racist crimes reported in Ireland, an increase of 29.5% on the previous year. The figures for 2006 were 173; for 2007, 214; for 2008, 172; and for 2009, 126. Use of incomplete figures can be misleading. There is no place for racism but a full picture, good or bad, should be given.

The author makes much of the fact that there were only 77 labour inspectors in August 2009 — the Government had set a target of 90 two years earlier. The reality of the effect of the recession on public sector recruitment might have been worthy of mention, alongside the fact that at the time the commitment was made there were 31 such inspectors. In a similar vein, Mr. Crowley refers to other bodies, in respect of which funding was reduced or eliminated.

Since my appointment, I have initiated a process of reviewing the workings of the Equality Authority, the Equality Tribunal and the Irish Human Rights Commission. It is an opportune time to do this and ascertain how their work and the equality framework can be linked with the formulation of social inclusion policy. The first step in the review process is producing scoping papers on important universal issues concerning equality and rights bodies. The conclusions on these issues will help to shape the parameters of my review.

The press statement issued by the MRC to accompany the pamphlet described it as "a political pamphlet". My office, as the responsible authority for the European Integration Fund, could not be associated with any publication criticising Ministers and their policies, still less with criticism which amounted to accusations of bad faith, nor could it support attacks on other politicians. For that reason, funding of more than €5,000 — half the cost of the report — was decommitted from the amount due to the centre for its overall project.

I have set up the ministerial council to hear the voices of migrants and make sure they are fully included and integrated in Ireland. I will set up four regional fora to hear their voices, as they are often on the margins and not heard. However, they will have my ear.

According to the Minister of State's response, she is cutting the budget by €5,000.

The Deputy should read my reply carefully.

The Minister of State outlined a list of defensive actions and cut the centre's budget by €5,000 because it had been naughty. She then said she would listen to it.