Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government contains a very significant commitment to job creation, in particular outside our capital city. Thankfully, due to the good work of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Irish job creators that is now beginning to bear fruit. Alongside that, unfortunately, it provides a challenge for us with an emerging skills shortage. From talking to a number of companies in Galway I am aware that they are in very serious danger of losing market share and being unable to gain new market share because of delays in processing work permits. I understand this is now taking four to five months. Are there any additional resources or procedural changes we can apply to expedite the process for these companies who urgently need to be able to access work permits in a timely manner?

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