Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

To give the Deputy an idea of what the next steps are, an implementation team has been established, chaired jointly with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, which will commence implementation of the single permit model. The adoption of the single permit approach is expected to be done by 2027. The programme will be delivered on a phased basis. The new application platform will be developed with customer benefits in the shorter term. Shorter term actions will be taken to remove the duplication of data collection and checks through improvement in communications. The medium-term actions will include the implementation of data sharing and integration between my Department and the Department of enterprise.

We will obviously make every effort to progress, not just in meeting that 2027 deadline, but in having the systems in place to stop that duplication as quickly as possible, which is the initial step. For people applying who are experiencing those difficulties, as the Deputy quite rightly indicated, between the visa and the permit, we are trying to get that process moving as fast as possible.

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