Ms Clare Dunne:

Before I answer that question, can I clarify a question put by Senator Humphreys earlier about the €27,500 salary level for meat deboners? I wish to confirm that that is basic salary and it does not include shift work, which is additional, as is overtime.

On the Cathaoirleach's question, it is a combination of all the things she mentioned. We redeployed staff within the unit. We secured additional staff across the Department and we are looking for even more staff. When the increases began to appear we probably thought they were temporary spikes and we tended to cover them by using overtime. I am convinced that this is a structural change as to where the economy is going. I have made that point in the Department. The Minister and the Secretary General are very supportive of ensuring that the work permits section is adequately resourced. It is a structural change and we are looking for more staff, if even a modest number. We will need more permanent staff in the work permits section.

The graphs are going the right way. As of tomorrow, we will be down to 11 weeks for standard applications and we are at five weeks for trusted partners, although we were at seven.

When we are at full tilt, and even now, we generally out-perform most of our neighbouring countries, which are looking at turnaround times of between three and six months for the generality of permits, be they critical skills or standard. We perform well when at full tilt. Even when struggling under the additional applications, we are managing to bring these back to what is approaching an acceptable level. Early in the new year we will be back to what we would prefer. We are customer-driven and we hate to be this much out of kilter and we are doing absolutely everything we can to bring it back.