Patricia Ryan
Question:1. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a trial of a basic income model will be supported; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18558/22]
View answerDepartmental Policies
Questions (1)
Written answers
The Programme for Government includes a commitment to "request the Low Pay Commission to examine universal basic income, informed by a review of previous international pilots, and resulting in a universal basic income pilot in the lifetime of the Government". Last year I formally requested that the Low Pay Commission examine this issue.
To inform its considerations, the Low Pay Commission asked the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to conduct technical background research on issues affecting the introduction of universal basic income and how a pilot might be designed for Ireland. This research was commissioned under the terms of the Low Pay Commission / ESRI Research Partnership Agreement. This partnership delivers high quality research regarding issues impacting on the National Minimum Wage and low pay in Ireland.
The research will examine the universal basic income pilots that have taken place in other jurisdictions to identify what was learned and what might be relevant to a pilot in Ireland. It will also seek to identify which policy objectives a universal basic income pilot could address and its associated risks and financial implications. It will conclude with recommendations on how a pilot in Ireland might be designed and run.
The Low Pay Commission intends to provide a report to me on this research and its recommendations later during Q2 2022.
Work Permits
Questions (2)
Paul Kehoe
Question:2. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason that processing times for new permit application for trusted partners has slowed considerably (details supplied); the measures that are being put in place to rectify this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18468/22]
View answerWritten answers
My Department experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year, impacting on processing times. 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.
My Department issued 16,275 employment permits in 2021, and processed a total of 17,968 applications which represents a significant volume of activity. In addition, the extension of categories of employment permits following the latest Review of the Occupational Lists has increased the availability of employment permits.
My Department and I are very conscious of the current timeframes for processing employment permit applications and the staff of the Employment Permits section are committed to reducing these.
A plan of action has been developed by officials in Employment Permits that is focusing on efficiencies in the processing applications. This plan is currently being implemented to tackle the current backlog, with both human resource interventions and systemic changes identified.
One of the actions in this plan to alleviate the significant backlog was to focus on processing Trusted Partner applications for Critical Skills Employment Permits (CSEPs). Waiting time for all CSEPs have been more than halved in the past seven weeks. The Department plans to maintain processing times for all CSEP applications at approximately 6 weeks for all of Q2, on the assumption that demand remains at current levels.
All flexible resources have now been redeployed to other permit types to ensure that the Department will continue to make progress in reducing these processing times in Q2. However, more rapid progress will be delivered after the completion of the c. 3,000 one-off applications we are currently processing for the meat and horticulture sector, which should take approximately six weeks to clear, in addition to normal processing workload. The Department expects to see a consistent strong fall in waiting times from mid-May, with waiting times considerably reduced by end Q2.
Since the implementation of the Action Plan, the Employment Permits section has made positive progress to reduce the current backlog reducing the number of applications awaiting processing from 11,181 in January 2021 to 8,773 at the end of March this year. Officials expect to see a further significant improvements in this backlog by the end of Q2 of 2022.
As of 4 April 2022, my Department are processing applications received on the following dates for the specific types of applications:
Critical Skills Employment Permit Applications
Trusted Partner 21 February 2022
Standard 07 February 2022
New Applications (All other permit types excluding Critical Skills Employment Permits)
Trusted Partner 29 November 2021
Standard 08 November 2021
Renewal Applications (All renewable permit types included)
Trusted Partner 01 December 2021
Standard 05 November 2021
Farm Inspections
Questions (3)
Patricia Ryan
Question:3. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of farm safety inspectors employed; the level of farm safety inspections in each of the past five years in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18551/22]
View answerWritten answers
The Property Registration Authority (PRA) continued to maintain a high level of service to support a robust property market throughout the period of Covid-19 restrictions. In 2021, overall application completion levels recovered to 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. Notwithstanding this level of activity, there has been an increase in the length of some completion times.
As set out in the PRA Customer Charter, completion times are measured in respect of cases that are in order (are not rejected or queried) and do not involve a change to map. In 2019, 87 per cent of applications were completed within 10 working days and 90 per cent within 20 working days. In 2020 and 2021, the 10-day and 20-day completion rates dropped to 49 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively, in 2020, and to 35 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively, in 2021, on account of the impact of the pandemic and reducing staff resources. The year to date in 2022 shows 45 per cent of cases have been completed within 10 working days and 53 per cent have been completed within 20 days of lodgement with the PRA.
A new Arrears Clearance Programme has already been set in train by the PRA Management Board, and cross organisational multi-disciplinary teams have been established to focus on the elimination of arrears. This programme, underpinned by project management discipline, envisages a structured approach to implementation, with an emphasis on data analysis, innovation and business process improvement. The PRA intends to communicate this intent, and ongoing progress achieved, to both its internal and external stakeholders. One aim of the programme is to achieve the guaranteed casework turnaround times that existed pre-Covid in the PRA’s Customer Charter.
Finally, the PRA is always willing to act on requests from lodging parties to expedite an application pending in the Land Registry, and every effort is made to expedite cases where valid grounds for urgency exist, such as a pending sale or financial hardship.
Health and Safety
Questions (4)
Patricia Ryan
Question:4. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of Health and Safety Authority inspectors recruited in 2021 and to date in 2022; the number expected to be recruited in 2022; the number of inspectors at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18552/22]
View answerWritten answers
The staff of the Health and Safety Authority is made up of those in administration and inspector grades. The inspector grades comprise of Grade I (senior inspectors) as well as Grade II and Grade III inspectors. Inspectors operate across all our mandates which include occupational health and safety, market surveillance of products and chemicals.
The Authority currently has 125 Inspectors of which 31 were recruited in 2021 and a further 11 have been recruited so far in 2022. Recruitment processes are ongoing within the Authority to fill a range of positions including Inspector roles throughout 2022. Over the coming months, recruitment campaigns will be launched for various inspector roles at Grades I, II and III.