Michael Ring
Ceist:176 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will have the immigration section of his Department liaise more effectively with the work permit section of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to enable a visa application to be accepted in an Irish Embassy once a work permit application is completed, rather than the embassy needing the original work permit document to start processing the visa application; if he will direct more staff to the immigrant section to reduce the processing time of visas for non-EEA nationals in view of the staff crisis in the hotel and catering industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22580/00]