Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. Her final comments are significant. A tripling of the staff numbers will obviously have an impact. It will make a big difference in March. That is to be welcomed.

One of the frustrations very often expressed to us by employers is the reason they are refused. For example, in one case the owner of a steel company in Tipperary put forward three candidates for work permits, one of whom was approved and the other two were refused. The reason for the refusal was they had not provided police clearance from another country there were in previously. It is impossible for them to get police clearance without being in that country and to go there they would need a visa. In other words, they are seeking a work permit but in order to get it they need to get a visa to go to another country to get police clearance and it is not possible for them to do that.

I am happy that Senator Lombard is here because he speaks quite regularly on this issue. There is another issue where employers place advertisements in the newspapers, which Senator Lombard has spoken about previously. In this case, three advertisements were placed in a newspaper in respect of which one person got a work permit, but the other two did not. The reason for the refusal was the advertisements were not as they should have been. This may be related to demand and the numbers of applications being made but there is a frustration from an employer's point of view. There are flaws in the system.