Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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44. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to outline in detail the progress that has been made to date in respect of having a single application process for employment permits and visa applications; the progress that has been made to date by the interdepartmental group established to review the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44400/23]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I ask the Minister for Justice to outline in detail the progress to date in respect of a single application process for employment permits and visa applications and the interdepartmental group established to review the matter.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, when the Departments are issuing visas and residence permits, it is not just the responsibility of my Department but also of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Both Departments work closely together to ensure that labour market migration arrangements are fair, efficient and responsive to the needs of our society and, more generally, our economy.

The Government agreed in principle last year that a single application procedure for employment permits and immigration permissions should be developed and it established an interdepartmental working group to develop an implementation plan for consideration by the Government. Over the course of the year, work has been under way to examine and reform the current system whereby separate applications have to be made for employment permits and immigration permissions. This reform is with a view to improving the overall user experience, enhancing Ireland’s competitiveness in attracting skilled migrant workers and aligning ourselves with EU standards. We often find, whether it is a chef applying to work in a restaurant or a doctor or nurse, that they first have to apply for a work permit and go through a different process. The checks are different through the Department of enterprise concerning the applicant's skills, the labour work test and the needs test. Separate from that is the justice work and the checks, which is more of a vetting process. Often people who have their work permit are surprised they have to go through the separate process. It is important we have a single process.

I understand a range of operational improvements will be made to assist applicants in the interim. These will be introduced over the next 18 months and will include streamlining fees, removing duplication of certain checks carried out by both Departments and reducing the number of documents required at immigration registration by pre-validating certain key documents. Over the medium term, these steps will be built on to develop a fully integrated single application process.

This is about putting everything on one system and making sure those applying for a job here do not have to go through separate channels. It is beneficial not just for the individual in question but also for the companies, particularly in sectors which cannot access workers here and have to go abroad. It opens up more options for them.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Justice is processing its side but there is a delay between the two Departments. What timescale are we talking about from start to finish, from the time of the application being submitted for the work permit and the end of the whole process of getting the visa? There still appears to be quite a delay.

Companies are running into difficulties on this matter. Then we still have people who, for instance, find that the delay is causing them to lose people they want to recruit in, especially people who are highly skilled and where there is a shortage of people with those skills. As a result, they are losing them to other countries.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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What we have seen in recent months and years is a significant increase in the number of people applying for work visas or for reunification, and in the number of people applying for international protection. The number of Ukrainian people who are seeking assistance here has also continued to grow over the past number of years. That obviously puts pressure on a system. We try to make sure that any application is dealt with as quickly as possible from our side. Where somebody is going through a vetting process, that can take time and we cannot put a particular timeline on it.

In 2022, looking specifically at those looking for employment permits, the average processing time for type D employment - scientific and research visas, for example - was 18 calendar days, whereas type D employment and scientific visas in 2023 was 21 calendar days. That is just one example to compare where something has gone from 18 to 21 calendar days.

More broadly, we have significantly increased the number of people working in the visa sections in my Department. That is to respond to the increase on all fronts, as I have mentioned. That is why I think this process is so important, that one does not have people having to go through two separate processes, and where one is potentially elongated for whatever reason, that adds to the overall timeline. People can be lost, as they go elsewhere and look at different countries. That is why it is important from the point of view of our competitiveness in attracting skilled workers that we have a simple, short, effective process. It is one that should be online as well, so that it is paperless and people can apply no matter where they are in the world. Work is progressing and I hope to have a report on this early in the new year, and it means we can then start moving once we have the recommendations from the interdepartmental group.