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

It is cold comfort for somebody who is waiting for care to be told that all these processes are being gone through while in the meantime there are no services. We know that labour shortages are endemic in this society. We have to import most of the deckhands on fishing boats. There are delays in the licences in that area. Amazingly, we are very short of people in the hospitality sector. People in that sector tell us constantly that they cannot hire workers. Perhaps I am looking at the wrong end of the story and maybe another issue under the remit of the Department is more relevant here, namely, the issue of a living wage to make it attractive to work and the interface between gainful work and social welfare. If the Minister of State wishes to address that issue rather than that relating to work permits, I would be interested. However, I am also interested in exactly what he is doing to streamline the entire work permits process.

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