Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is part of the problem, because it takes approximately 13 weeks for someone to get a work permit and only then is he or she allowed submit a fully correct application. If it is not fully correct, it will be refused and he or she will have to start again. When the visa waiting time is added in, we are talking about quite considerable lengths of time. I cannot understand why the two processes cannot run in parallel so that when a person receives a work permit their visa application would be assessed and become available at the same time. It is ridiculous that people who have gotten their work permits have to go back and get a visa. The Minister indicated that in some cases it does run in parallel and the Minister has delegated sanction. Can he explain what percentage of work permit cases are processed on that basis?

See this speech in context