Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 September 2021
179. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of work permit-related visa applications currently awaiting processing, with particular reference to various aspects of the economy particularly affected by staff shortages; the means by which the Minister expects to address this issue in the short to medium term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44171/21]
View answerSince March 2020, my Department has implemented Covid-19 contingency arrangements moving employment permit operations seamlessly to a totally remote working environment. Feedback received from enterprise across the board has been universally positive. In fact, Ireland was one of the few countries that has managed to keep their employment permit system fully operational throughout the crisis.
From the outset of the crisis, in order to assist the HSE and all other medical providers in the State to respond to, and to assist with, the public health response to the threat of Covid-19, all medical employment permits are expedited with immediate effect.
My Department has seen a significant increase in applications for employment permits this year. To the end of August, some 14,624 applications were received, representing a 35% increase over the same period in 2020 (10,772) and a 19% increase on 2019 (12,276). Some 9,526 employment permits were issued over this period. At present there are c. 5,400 applications across the full range of all available employment permits awaiting processing from visa and non-visa required countries.
Processing times have been impacted by this increase in demand but also because of the HSE cyber-attack. As a result, employment permit applications associated with the July Doctors rotation (which occurs twice yearly in January and July) had to be submitted either manually or through other nonstandard methods. This resulted in a significant additional administrative burden in dealing with these applications, requiring staff to be temporarily reassigned to assist in the process and had a direct impact on wider processing times for other permit applications.
It is important to point out that when set against other international employment permit regimes, Ireland continues to compare extremely favourably, even at current processing times.
However, my Department is very conscious of the recent lengthening of timeframes for processing Employment Permit applications and is committed to reducing these further. My Department is taking a range of measures to reduce the current backlog as quickly as possible. It advises employers to take current timelines into account as part of their recruitment plans.
My Department updates the employment permit processing timelines on its website on a weekly basis and regularly issues updates on relevant employment permit matters to Trusted Partners such as the recent update on employment permit processing timelines.
