Vol. 544 No. 3
87 Ms McManus asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to review the procedure whereby work permits are issued to employers rather than employees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28646/01]
It is under my responsibility that the necessary authorisation is provided which allows non-EEA workers to take up employment in Ireland.
The essence of the work permit scheme is that it is a vacancy driven scheme; the initiative must be taken by the employer to obtain the permit prior to entry into the State by the worker. The application must relate to a specific job and to a named individual. The permits, which are usually issued for one year with the possibility of renewal, are specifically intended to relate to posts that cannot be filled by Irish or other EU-EEA nationals. Employers who apply for work permits are required to establish that it has not been possible, in spite of reasonable efforts being made, for example contacting FÁS, to fill the vacancy from Ireland or other EU-EEA member states. The onus is on employers to satisfy themselves as to the employee's skills, qualifications and suitability. It also means that the employer is actually prepared to take on the person concerned and they are, therefore, less likely to have to seek State benefits.
To issue a permit directly to an employee would probably mean that the State would have to put in place arrangements to verify the qualifications and suitability of the person applying. This would be like a green card system used for longer-term or permanent immigration elsewhere. This would impose a considerable administrative burden and would certainly be much slower than the current system.
