Government’s policy reversal on work permit term limits is set for debate in the House of Assembly.At yesterday’s inaugural sitting of the Lower Chamber, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Walter Roban gave notice of a motion to reject the removal of term limits “until there is comprehensive immigration reform which ensures there are job and career opportunities for qualified Bermudians in the local economy”.Home Affairs Minister, Senator Michael Fahy said he was looking forward to the debate at the post-Throne Speech press conference.Asked why he chose to remove term limits before working on other immigration reforms, Sen Fahy repeated his contention that term limits had nothing to do with opportunities for Bermudians.“The policy was originally introduced to end a legitimate expectation of residency. Legal advice showed that that policy should never have been put in place. So it was removed. That is now done,” he said.“What we have to do is concentrate on proper work permit applications matching the types of jobs that are available. We have to make sure that Bermudians are trained for this workforce and the changing environment of our economy. That is totally unrelated to term limits.“Unfortunately, the Opposition is incredibly confused. And I know that my colleagues are looking forward to the debate next week because they will outline it again for Bermudians to understand exactly the difference between work permits and term limits.”The Minister agreed that public anxiety over the issue was due to the work permit regime not working well for Bermudians.He later told The Royal Gazette that the public had been subjected to “total misinformation” perpetuated by the previous government which linked term limits to work permits.Sen Fahy said some existing work permit policies were not even in writing and some streamlining was needed to ensure people were treated fairly.“I had an application come across my desk with someone asking for ten years experience for a potwasher. We’ve got to get that mindset out of employers that think they can get away with that kind of thing,” the Minister said.“We need to make sure that we have minimum standards put in place and that Bermudians are given real opportunity and are given that chance by cracking down on employers who breach that policy. That’s the intent. I think if we can put these things in place, if we see one employer prosecuted for breaching policy or tailoring things to bring in a non Bermudian that will change the dynamic and the mindset.”But he rejected the proposition that those measures should have been in place before ending term limits.Asked whether there was not a moral imperative towards long term residents of the future, he said such issues will be looked at “over a period of time.”“At the moment we are focusing on job creation, focusing on how we can reform work permit policy so that you don’t have these issues that people are connecting to term limits.“Having a non Bermudian leave and that job simply taken over by a non Bermudian means that the training procedures in place the work permit policies in place need to be reformed.“We’re going to do that. It is about making sure we have Bermudians trained, making sure people have the opportunity and its making sure that people are not tailoring ads and bringing in their own people.“In terms of these other issues, that’s something we have to look at over a period of time. All of us have been tasked with, by the Premier, to create jobs and grow the economy.”Immigration reforms outlined in the Throne Speech include increasing penalties for employers who break the rules and changing policy to ensure that guest workers are clear on their “limited residency rights”.The Speech also describes the term limit policy, which was brought in by the former Progressive Labour Party Government in 2001, as a “barrier to job creation”.Opposition Senator Diallo Rabain told The Royal Gazette that he did not accept an across the board removal of term limits.“I’m a firm believer that you can have some term limits, having them across the baord was not the best thing to do, but abolishing them completely is not the best thing to do,” he said.“If anyone can come and give me a valid reason why someone who comes here as a waiter should have the right to abode here as long as they want while there are plenty of Bermudians to do that job. It doesn’t bode well with me.”Government came under fire from organised labour which claimed that they were not properly consulted over the term limit policy reversal.