Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It seems the Minister of State is washing his hands of this issue, considering he completed the review in the early half of 2009 and he seems to be satisfied with it. Is it not the case that it took him almost two years into the country's economic collapse before he actually reviewed the existing work permit rules in place up until June 2009?

While I accept that the majority of new applications issued may be for people already in the country, can he explain how it is that approximately one third of all the permits issued last year were new work permits but, in 2006, approximately one quarter of all work permits issued were new work permits? I argue the situation should be the exact opposite. Given that 85,000 additional young people are unemployed since this Government took office in 2007, and that 185,000 people became unemployed last year, is the Minister of State not concerned with the trend of those statistics?

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