Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It does take time and I am glad the Taoiseach acknowledges there is a problem. We need to go further than acknowledging there is a problem and maybe establish a liaison between the HSE and IPAS. I am not blaming IPAS and I am not blaming the Ministers, who are both sitting there, at all but we do need a whole-of-government approach because what we cannot have is service providers, in particular vital services like GPs, having to choose between providing a service to their existing patients or maybe the growing families of existing patients, and new patients who are coming in. That will create division and resentment, and understandable resentment, and we just cannot have that.

During the recess we learned of difficulties in the work permit system around healthcare professionals. I appreciate it is slightly different but it goes back to what Deputy Grealish raised. We also need a vast improvement in the work permit regime. There are people who have been granted work permits being refused visas, and there are a lot of them, by the Department of Justice. There seems to be a disconnect between the two regimes. There are two separate statutory regimes and the Government really needs to look at that.

The question I raised is around making sure that there is a plan for areas that are accepting persons seeking international protection and those who have temporary protection, and that plan is clearly communicated to those communities.

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