Ms Edel McGinley:

It is not necessary for that person to leave the country, but he or she will have to apply for a new work permit. The employer applying for that new work permit will have to fulfil the same conditions. It is, therefore, hard to move jobs because it is not possible for a person to work in the State without a work permit and it could take six weeks to two months, or longer, to get that work permit in place. It is a difficult process. If a worker decides a job is really bad and he or she wants to leave and get another job down the road or in the next town, that job will have to be advertised in the national newspapers and there will be a cost to the employer. Somebody also has to pay €1,000 for the work permit. That can be an employer or a worker, and much of the time it can fall to the worker in renewal circumstances.