Ms Claire Cumiskey:

When one is relying on having a valid permit for the purpose of another Department, it can create delays and can even expire while an application is pending. If a decision on a work permit has not been granted by the time an immigration permission expires, one has to go back to INIS to ask for another temporary permission. We would hope that some regulations will be put in place once these re-activation employment permits come into law to allow for a minimum processing time or a greater synergy between both Departments to ensure the applications come through efficiently.

On the question about the floodgates argument, applications for employment permits from within the State are absolutely exceptional. The majority of employment permits are made while the migrant worker is outside the State. The proposed scheme will only deal with people who were previously legally in the State but fell out of the system through no fault of their own. I cannot see any merit in the argument that it will result in floods of migrant workers suddenly coming to Ireland. What we are really dealing with in this legislation is the legacy issue of migrant workers who have been in Ireland for a long time. The current income threshold of €30,000, the ineligible job categories and the 50:50 rules mean there will not be a high grant level for applications for general or low-wage employment permits. The legislation is dealing with people who have been here for many years, who have been exploited, who have not been able to upgrade their immigration permission or attain Irish citizenship.