David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I may not use all of it. When MII advertises for workers outside the EU or EEA, what sort of reaction has it typically got in the last while? Has it been oversubscribed or undersubscribed? My second question is how many people with permits are working in the industry? Mr. Carroll referred to 16,000 direct employees. Between 2015 and 2019, the industry had 3,160 work permits. How many are there at the moment? That seems to be a rolling figure so can MII give us an idea of the position. Also, from which countries do these workers typically come? Mr. Ryan or somebody else mentioned orientation so can the MII representatives give us an overview of what kind of supports they provide to workers when they come here? Given what the MRCI representatives said earlier, when people come here they may not have the language or know the culture and so forth, so does MII give them some kind of supports in that regard?

Ms McGinley mentioned family reunion. Does MRCI envision something similar to what is involved with particular skills and will the representatives elaborate on that and what is meant by it? On seasonality, would MRCI agree that there are some workers who want to come here on a seasonal basis but who do not want to be here all year round and maybe want to go back to their families for several months a year and be here for work at other times? The representatives might comment on that.