Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I assure him that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, recognises and acknowledges the crucial role non-nationals play in our health sector workforce. They often work in challenging environments and deal with vulnerable people on a daily basis. Their exceptional commitment was particularly clear throughout the Covid pandemic. It is important for me to say, as the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, how much I depend on, and how I am trying to accelerate disability into, that exact space.

In recognition of the importance of front-line medical personnel, the atypical working scheme unit in the Department's immigration services prioritises these applications. In line with the unmatched number of atypical applications received so far this year, the number of applications being processed and decided upon has also risen. As I stated, more staff have recently been assigned to the atypical working scheme unit to assist with processing these applications. Streamlining measures have been introduced to return the current processing time to the business target of 20 working days. The atypical working scheme unit continues to liaise with all relevant stakeholders in the area and will continue to provide training and seminars to the sector.

I will find out what additional resources there are in response to the Deputy's query on that. I will ask whether that lack of resources has impacted on the investor programme.

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