Charging employers an extra fee to pay for healthcare insurance for those on work permits would be unfair, Tynwald was told.
The suggestion had come from Peter Karran (Lib Van, Onchan) who argued that charging a health care insurance fee to employers of those on work permits would help offset the extra costs on the NHS.
But Economic Development Minister John Shimmin MHK said his department had no plans to introduce such a charge.
He told Tynwald: ‘To introduce a new fee on either employers or employees for such individuals who made a decision to relocate here a year or more ago without the knowledge that any such fee would be introduced would seem to me to be unfair.
‘Depending on the level of the fee, this could be a large and unplanned expense on local businesses at a time when some sectors are struggling.’
Some 5,081 work permits were issued last year, the large majority of these being renewals for those already working in the island.
Mr Shimmin said applications for new workers are scrutinised carefully and permits are only granted where the skills could not be sourced locally.
He added: ‘I am conscious that an additional fee in respect of work permit holders would only relate to economically active workers, while other new residents would not be subject to such a fee.
‘For example, citizens of the European Economic Area have a right to live on the Isle of Man but not to work on the Island without a work permit. So such a fee could be viewed as unfair.’
The Minister added he had never seen any evidence that, taken as a whole, this group of workers impose an extra cost on public services.
success
He said he understood that quite the reverse was true – as the island’s success over the last 30 years had depended in large part upon many thousands of economically active migrants who have chosen to work, live, invest and pay taxes here.
‘If we choose to impose additional fees then we also risk sounding unwelcoming and as a result we could fail to attract the additional talent we need, which in turn will harm our economy and the prospects for those of us who already live here,’ Mr Shimmin told Tynwald.
