Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh Gníomhach. I hope I receive that sort of welcome every time I come back to the House going forward, be it for Commencement matters or legislative debates. It is certainly an aspiration of mine in this new role to spend considerable time engaging with Senators on key issues, one of which is work permits, which falls within my remit in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I am grateful to Senator McGahon not only for raising this issue but also for his clear illustration of how it is impacting the people on the ground in Louth whom he serves every day as a Senator and whom he served previously as a county councillor.

As he will be aware, the employment permit system is not just an important part of our workforce but also crucial for many businesses looking to expand and to hire more staff. One of the great difficulties but also one of the great opportunities at the moment is that we are at effective full employment in our economy and, therefore, businesses, unfortunately, are faced with a position where they cannot find Irish or EEA nationals available to undertake certain roles. These shortages are genuine. The work permit system seeks to fill this gap and to help these businesses to find and hire the necessary talent they require. Any opportunity for businesses to expand, contribute to our economy and employ more staff simply has to be welcomed across the Houses.

I acknowledge that many Senators will have heard from businesses that have experienced delays in accessing their work permits, just like the employers in Senator McGahon's constituency. We previously found ourselves in a position where large demands for permits led to long delays. In 2021, alone 27,666 applications were received. That was a 69% increase on 2020 and a 47% increase on 2019, which, of course, was a non-Covid year. This was a high that had not been seen in more than a decade.

These delays had an impact on processing times, but I am glad that they have been significantly reduced. The current wait and processing time for a permit has been reduced from 21 weeks at the start of 2022 to one to two weeks at a maximum now. That is a significant change that has come through dedicated work, most importantly by my predecessor in this role, Deputy English, work to which the Senator referred, but also by a vast array of officials in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment working with key stakeholders, be it in the trade union movement or in the employer sectors or with industry.

This was done as at the start of 2022 an action plan was introduced to reduce the backlog. Resources were increased and more efficient methods of processing employment permit applications were applied. The processing time was trebled in size and daily output more than tripled compared with 2021 levels.

Work has also been under way on a sectoral level in respect of access to permits. From November 2021 my Department introduced a number of key operational improvements in the way in which doctors can access the employment permit system. These changes mean that doctors in public health settings no longer need to submit further employment permit applications but, instead, can simply advise my Department of their HSE location, thereby reducing the administrative burden on the Department, the HSE, hospitals and the doctors themselves. This has removed many hundreds of applications from the employment permits system.

The system is currently operating very well. The number of applications awaiting processing has fallen from approximately 11,000 in January 2022 to just under 900 as of this morning. That comes alongside a growth in demand for applications. The progress in the processing and wait time for these permits is a significant achievement and has been warmly welcomed by businesses across the country, but I know that many businesses may still have issues within the system and I am always willing to engage with them, to listen to the problems they may have and to see what can be done to improve their experience.

An awful lot more needs to be done in this area. An awful lot of work is under way, but the level of engagement from the likes of Senators, who are on the ground in their constituencies daily dealing with applicants and businesses alike, will ensure that this process is continuously improved.