Dáil debates
Thursday, 3 July 2025
Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed)
Work Permits
3:25 am
Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
I thank the Deputy for his question. As he mentioned, legal migration plays an essential and very positive role in Ireland's society and economy. Legal pathways are vital to addressing labour shortages in the economy.
I have been working closely with the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to ensure that Ireland's legal employment pathways are efficient and as convenient as possible. In May 2024, Government approval was secured for our plan to introduce a single permit to both work and live in Ireland. This decision followed detailed engagement by an interdepartmental group to explore the feasibility of the measure. As the Deputy is aware, there currently are employment permits. He mentioned the problems in having employment permits, visa applications and residency permits all processed separately. A detailed plan has been developed to unify these processes and an implementation team is working to introduce a single permit. Once this is in place, Ireland can then seek to opt into the EU single permit directive. This is a complex and technical project, involving linking two separate IT systems, and is likely to require legislative amendment. The project is due to be completed in 2027.
In the short term, steps are being taken to streamline the process so that information requests and checks are not duplicated. The customer experience will improve through aligning online information and introducing a single payment model. These steps will simplify the process for people while the common application platform is being developed. My Department is making a significant investment in the technology to fully digitise the immigration service. Also, changes were made last year to allow spouses and partners of employment permit holders to themselves take up employment without the requirement for a separate authorisation.
All of these initiatives are designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the economy and to support and recognise the vital contribution made by legal migrants to our economy and society.
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