Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 April 2022
69. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a minimum time can be achieved for the processing of applications for work permits for non-European Union workers particularly in the healthcare sector in which there are so many staff shortages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18623/22]
View answerThe employment permits system is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages, in circumstances where there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one. The system is managed through the use of lists designating highly skilled and ineligible occupations.
As the Deputy is aware, applications for employment permits are processed in date order of receipt of fully completed applications. My Department advise that an application for any employment permit should be received at least 12 weeks before the proposed employment start date.
Since the outset of the Covid-19 crisis, in order to assist the HSE and other medical providers in the State, all medical employment permits are expedited with immediate effect.
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 has 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 for these roles resulting in additional applications.
My Department and I are very conscious of the current timeframes for processing employment permit applications and the staff of the Employment Permits team are committed to reducing these.
An plan of action has been developed by the Employment Permits team that is focusing on increasing resources and driving efficiencies in applications processing. This plan is currently being implemented to tackle the current backlog, with both human resource interventions and systemic changes identified. Hundreds of doctors have already been removed from the employment permits system.
Since the implementation of this plan, the waiting time for Critical Skills Employment Permits has been more than halved and the number of applications awaiting processing declined from 11,181 in January 2022 to 8,773 at the end of March. Officials expect to see a further significant improvements in this backlog by the end of Q2 of 2022.
