Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am committed to having those meetings when it is appropriate to do so. We have to conclude the review and look through the data. The last time this review was done, we received ten or 11 submissions. This time it has been multiples of that. That just shows where we have gone. Last year, 40,000 work permits were handed out. The number handed out the previous year was 19,000, and the number handed out prior to that - due to the Covid-19 pandemic - was 5,000. There has not been a consistent call for the last five years to add this. It has really accelerated in every occupation over the last couple of years, including dental nursing. We constantly engage. As the Minister, Deputy Coveney, laid out, there have been requests over the last couple of years to increase quotas for special sectors. We saw it with regard to people working as linemen. Very recently we saw it in the meat processing industry, and we see it in lots of different sectors. We are always open and reactive to the needs not just of industry but also of society and the sectoral Government Departments, such as, in this case, the Department of Health. I hope I can come back into this Chamber with the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, in four or five weeks to give a full update on the review.

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