Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the announcement this morning by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, that the community employment scheme and Tús participants who were due to leave their schemes in November will now have their contracts funded until 4 February 2022. There are approximately 13,500 people working on those schemes across the country, including many good people working in Tipperary who support Tidy Towns groups and day care centres. I know that the Leader played a significant role in increasing the number of people who could go through that scheme while she was Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. It is very welcome and there are many people who use it and it is vital for those communities, so I welcome the announcement.

There is a serious issue relating to work permits for many sectors that need them. The application process has changed in recent years and become more difficult. It has been quite successful, with approximately 14,000 of 17,000 applicants this year being successful and there has been an increase of approximately 41,000. However, some sectors, particularly hospitality and agriculture, are just not getting workers as quickly as needed. Some of the reasons for refusal are very frustrating. A constituent of mine applied for a work permit for an employee. He ran an advertisement for 28 days but when he submitted it he had to amend it slightly as there was a misspelling of the person's name. He edited it and showed proof that he had done so but his application was refused because the name was misspelled at the start. If there is an error in an application, there should be a process for informing the person of that error before a decision is made. These people are waiting three, four or possibly six months but the application is then refused and they have to start the process all over again. The most frustrating thing for these businesses is that the cost of applying for a work permit is on them.That is a cost of approximately €1,000 on the business, and four or five months later it could find the application has been refused and the process must be started again. There is also the question of the individual who expects to come to Ireland to work and create a life over here. The hospitality, agriculture and transport sectors have faced real challenges over the years, and if we could speed up that process as much as possible, it would be very much welcomed.

I thank the Cathaoirleach and everybody else when I see the number of people wearing pink both inside this Chamber and outside, where staff are also wearing pink. A picture was taken outside on the plinth earlier and it is really welcome to see people of all parties supporting breast cancer awareness month. I have some understanding of the devastation of losing a mother at a very young age. Senator McGreehan has spoken about encouraging a change so women of a younger age or who are healthy get checked. My mother died at 49, which is very young, and we would not wish that on anyone. It is very important we as a group highlight this effort. It is very welcome to see so many people wearing the colour pink. If we can do anything to promote it and encourage people to get checked, especially when healthy, it would be very much appreciated. I thank the Cathaoirleach for facilitating this.