Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. Back in December 2022 the Government made a decision to implement a single application process for employment permits while also ensuring that the immigration permissions are developed in tandem with that. The new system that has been introduced and is currently live provides technology similar to that currently in place within the Department of Justice which will assist and provide the required infrastructure for a single processing between the respective Departments. There is a committee and sub-group, comprising a project management team that is co-ordinated by my Department and the Department of Justice, working on a single application process. We know we cannot have one without the other in order to have processing on time. We look forward to making significant progress in that regard.

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