Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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1197. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the progress made to date in respect of having a single application process for employment permits and visa applications; the progress made to date by the interdepartmental group established to review the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12315/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department works closely with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to ensure that Ireland's labour market migration arrangements are fair, efficient and meet the needs of our economy and society.Currently, a person from outside the European Economic Area wishing to work in Ireland must make an application to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for an employment permit, and then separately apply to my Department for an immigration permission and a visa if necessary. Work is underway to unify the process for applying for employment permits, visas and immigration permissions, as set out in the Programme for Government. An implementation group has been established with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to commence implementation of what will be a single permit for employment and immigration purposes. This is a complex technical project which it is estimated will take until 2027 to introduce so that Ireland would then be able to opt in to the Single Permit Directive.

In the shorter term, efficiencies will be introduced to make the process easier for prospective employers and workers. These changes will include reducing the duplication of checks and documents through data sharing, aligning online information to streamline the customer experience and designing a single payment model for a single fee.