Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I, too, share the Senator's frustrations. My constituency office is just as much contacted, maybe more so given that I am a Minister of State in the Department, by industries that seek to have permits processed as a matter of urgency.

As I have said, measures have been undertaken by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy English, to improve efficiency in the processing time of permits through the Department. It would be wrong of me not to acknowledge that there has been a delay and I encourage people to take account of the delay when advertising positions. I urge people to link in with the almost 10% of people who are unemployed, because they are ready, willing and able to take on job opportunities. In my own constituency, the Department of Social Protection has been linked with local companies and has matched good quality staff with the demands and needs of companies. I encourage other people to do likewise.

The new Bill in this area is currently with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. When the committee finalises its report it intends to bring a memorandum to Government for approval and then to enact the Bill thereafter. I can assure the Senator that there is no desire on the part of my Department to delay that and once the Oireachtas committee publishes its report, we will move at pace to have the Bill enacted.