Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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1. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of persons who were awarded work permits in each of the past three years in tabular form; the number from each country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26577/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The table attached shows the number of employment permits that have been granted in each year from 01 January 2019 to 20 May 2022 inclusive, and also the numbers granted to each country.

My Department experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year. From the start of January to the end of December 2021, some 27,666 applications were received, representing a 69% increase over the same period in 2020 (16,293) and a 47% increase on 2019 (18,811), which itself represented an 11 year high in applications. As can be seen from the figures provided, my Department expects that this year it will issue far in excess of the number of Employment Permits issued in each of the previous years from 2019 to 2021.