Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With respect, it is not the Deputy's office that will turn them around, it is the work permits system. Of course, any Deputy's office has the right to ask questions as to the status of the applications. Last year, this took months; it now takes a short number of weeks. There may be problems with individual applications. It may be the case that some work permits need extra consideration, they may be turned down or may not be on the critical skills list. If they are not on the critical skills list, there may be other issues that delay applications. I do not know the individual cases about which the Deputy is concerned, but I know that many businesses are under pressure waiting for work permits to be sanctioned. The Deputy is right about that. We have to try to deliver as efficient a system as we can.

We have significantly increased resources for the work permits section. It is a much more efficient system now than it was a year ago. The Deputy should not forget that when many people apply for work permits, they also have to apply for visas because they come from parts of the world that require a visa to come to Ireland. My Department has no control over the timeline for visas; it is the Department of Justice. We hope that both the Department of Justice and my Department can work together for a single application process that would secure a person a visa as well as a work permit. That will take longer because of the security issues around visas and so on. It depends on where people come from and whether they are on the critical skills list. They will determine the timelines, I suspect.

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