John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 929: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason work permits are currently freely available to non-EU trained physiotherapists when Irish trained physiotherapists have difficulty in finding appropriate employment here; the number of work permits which were issued to non-EU physiotherapists during 2005 and in the first eight months of 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29002/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As part of a response to the shortage of qualified labour in the health sector, a fast-track Work Visa/Work Authorisation scheme was introduced in 2000 to facilitate the immigration of suitably qualified medical professionals including physiotherapists.

The Work Permits section of my Department has informed me that the number of permits issued in respect of physiotherapists for 2005 and from figures available for 2006 is as follows, broken down by permit type:

The recent report of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs has also indicated that, in the absence of improved training and retention policies a number of occupations, including physiotherapists, are likely to experience skills shortages in the future.