Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The issue surrounding work permits is reaching a crisis level for many employers. A growing number of employers in the healthcare, food processing, hospitality, agriculture and transport sectors are battling through a system that is fraught with long delays and refusals based on minor human errors on their applications. This triggers an appeals process that is taking up to 18 weeks to complete. The vast majority of these errors could be rectified by simply communicating directly with the applicant. I have been inundated with calls from exasperated people in all of these sectors across Tipperary who are unable to secure staff in Ireland or within the EU. The lack of a workforce is having a negative impact on productivity, curtailing production, damaging exports and suppressing economic growth. Unless a way is found to fast-track these non-EU work permits, many businesses in these sectors face collapse. I call on the Government to introduce a system that will both simplify and expedite the process of obtaining work permits for the sectors whose survival depends on them.

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