Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Deputy for raising this. The most important thing here is that it makes sense. Sometimes we just have to apply common sense to a situation that clearly does not work. It might be a small number but there are thousands of people living here who want to work but cannot and there are people here whose spouses or partners have not come with them because of the fact they cannot work or cannot work easily. There are also people who will not come here because of this very situation. Therefore, changing this is not just positive for those families but it is positive for our economy as well.

When I was in New York for St. Patrick’s Day this year, I had a lot of different engagements but one thing that stood out when people talk about Ireland and what attracts them to Ireland is our wonderful workforce. What is really positive about our workforce is that 20% of people in our workforce were not born here. We have a multilingual, multiskilled and multitalented workforce. It is a benefit to our country and it is something that people from the outside looking in see as a benefit. To be able to make it easier for people who want to come here, bring their skills, bring their knowledge, but also bring their partners who also have that strong ability is an important change. It is an important signal to send. In addition, the changes we will make to bring forward a single permit to allow people to come and work here will make us a much more attractive destination.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. I look forward to seeing the benefit of it and those applying for jobs hopefully from today onwards.

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