Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 29 Nov 1988

Vol. 384 No. 8

Written Answers. - Work Permits.

218.

Mr. Barry

asked the Minister for Labour the number of work permits issued to non-nationals in each of the last five years; and the nationalities of those concerned.

Minister for Labour (Mr. B. Ahern)

The number of work permits issued to non-EC nationals in each of the last five years is as follows:

Number of Permits Issued.

1984	1985	1986	1987	1988 (to 31 October)
1,199	1,967	1,951	1,869	2,002

In any one year, work permits are issued to employers in respect of nationals of over 70 countries. The vast majority of work permits issue in respect of the nationals of a relatively small number of countries. The details are set out below of the countries in respect of whose nationals most work permits were granted in the years in question.

1984	1985	1986
Country	Number of Permits	Country	Number of Permits	Country	Number of Permits
USA	320	USA	426	USA	313
India	138	India	242	India	266
Pakistan	74	Hong Kong	175	Pakistan	219
Japan	52	Pakistan	173	Hong Kong	187
Hong Kong	49	Egypt	76	Egypt	80
Algeria	45	Japan	75	Japan	66
Egypt	42	China	67	China	64
*Spain	33	Iraq	58	Malaysia	50
Canada	32	Malaysia	48	Iraq	50
Iraq	31	*Spain	46	*Spain	44
Sweden	30	Canada	35	Nigeria	42
Malaysia	24	Switz.	34	Australia	40
Australia	23	Australia	34	Libya	29
Switz.	21	Sweden	31	Canada	22
Iran	19	S. Africa	29	Sweden	21
Others	266	Others	418	Others	458

1987	1988 (to 31 October)
Country	Number of Permits	Country	Number of Permits
USA	317	USA	327
India	251	Pakistan	286
Pakistan	244	India	273
Hong Kong	124	Romania	103
Romania	84	Japan	75
Japan	73	Egypt	74
Egypt	65	Hong Kong	64
Malaysia	59	*Spain	64
China	58	Libya	63
Canada	46	Canada	60
Iraq	41	China	58
Nigeria	38	Malaysia	57
*Spain	35	Iraq	50
Australia	31	Nigeria	35
Libya	29	Sweden	35
Others	374	Others	378

*Spanish and Portuguese nationals will require work permits until 1 January 1993, under the European Community (Aliens) (Amendment) Regulations, 1985.