Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning to take the question. I want to discuss the delays businesses and employees are experiencing when applying for work permits, particularly permits for haulage companies. I am under no illusion as to the gravity of the situation. I understand there has been an unprecedented volume of applications for these permits over recent years. Nonetheless, there are significant problems. There is a particular problem in my constituency of Cork North-Central and in my neighbouring constituency of Cork East where most of the haulage businesses in the south are based.

I am regularly contacted by companies regarding delays in processing and accessing work permits for employees, particularly outside of the EU. There is already a shortage of haulage drivers, as we know. They were recently added to the critical skills list as a profession. The Irish Road Haulage Association warned earlier in the month of a severe driver shortage, which could impact the supply of goods across Ireland in the lead-up to Christmas. The association has been clear in its calls for urgent intervention to assist the sector.

I note that the Oireachtas transport committee recently cited three key concerns. One of those concerns is the barrier to international recruitment, including time-consuming administrative processes across multiple Government Departments for hiring qualified drivers. Speaking from my own experience in this regard, some of these applications have been going on in excess of 12 months. The Department, in response to parliamentary questions, will often cite that there is a lack of information or there is incorrect information on the application, but the turnaround time and the lag in between the processing of those various correspondences is very long and drawn out. A company that contacted me earlier can be used as an example. In early March 2024, it initially contacted me about a work permit issue, which was eventually resolved, but an issue then presented with visas, and they are still outstanding to this day. That is a year and a half. The process appears disjointed, likely due to the number of Departments involved. It is my understanding that a haulier could face a two-year wait to hire a driver from a non-EU country, consisting of five different Departments.

Surely it is well acknowledged right across the floor at this stage that between the visas and the work permits, something falls down in between. Regardless of whether it is the time lag I referred to earlier or a cross-departmental lag, it is contributing to the excessive waiting list problem we are experiencing. Surely somebody needs to look at how we can co-ordinate the Departments better to streamline this service to the benefit of everybody because we are crying out for these drivers. I do not think there is anybody in this Chamber who has not been approached by business people like couriers, hauliers and people in other professions. They are urgently seeking these drivers. Can the Minister of State confirm if he or his senior Minister have met cross-departmentally with the Departments of transport and justice to streamline the cross-departmental employment status of these employees? Can he also advise the steps that his Department is taking to address ongoing delays? Can he advise if he or his Department are engaged with the Irish Road Haulage Association?

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