Permit fees are much higher in many other countries. The purpose of the increase is to try to make the process more difficult in order that employers will seek local labour. Some have suggested that because employers were not paying market rates, they were finding it difficult to recruit local labour, either in Ireland or the wider European economic area.
The fee has not been increased for a considerable time. The processing procedure is huge becausemany civil servants are needed to make sure the data given by employers are correct. This is necessary because examples arose of people being brought here, who were not treated properly. We go to considerable lengths to ensure the employees concerned are paid the going rate and have the same conditions as employees from Ireland, other European Union member states and the EEA.
The process consumes a considerable amount of manpower. Officials in my Department have been working Saturdays and Sundays processing applications which has created a huge overtime cost. In Christmas week alone we received almost 2,000 applications – the exact figure was 1,920. The purpose of the new regime is to make the process more difficult because the first priority of a Minister or Government is to ensure local people can find employment.
At Question Time Deputy Noonan referred to the recent increase in unemployment from 3.6% to 4.3%. We introduced the stricter regime for work permits in response. When I took office four years ago we were granting about 2,000 to 2,500 work permits a year. Last year we granted something in the order of 35,000.
Employers do not always require people for the whole year. For example, there were cases of people being recruited for particularly busy periods such as Christmas. Therefore, the charges for permits are skewed month by month, in order that the fee for a person coming here for a five month period will be €150 as it would be unfair to charge €400. We gave much thought to the increase, which is not related to the euro. I was not translating £125 into €400.