Written Answers. - Work Permits.
Richard Bruton
Ceist:
54
Mr. R. Bruton
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment
her plans to amend the provisions where a person who receives a work permit in order to carry out employment with one employer cannot within the lifetime of that permit change to work with another employer without submitting a new application; if her attention has been drawn to the attendant waiting time in such cases; and the circumstances in which permission to work is conferred on an employee with freedom to move from job to job rather than granted to the employer.
[3955/02]
Work permits are granted under the Aliens Act, 1935, and apply to all non-EU and non-EEA nationals for engagements for financial gain. The initiative must be taken by the employer to obtain the permit prior to entry into the State of the prospective employee. The application must relate to a specific job and to a named individual. The permits are issued to the employer for up to one year, provided the relevant labour and immigration requirements such as legal status and national minimum wage are met. They are specifically intended to relate to posts that cannot be filled by Irish or other EU or EEA nationals. Employers who apply for work permits are required to establish that it has not been possible, in spite of reasonable efforts made in co-operation with FÁS, to fill the vacancy from the Irish or broader EU or EEA labour market.
The link between employer and employee in this instance is important as the process by which work permits are issued is relatively simple and the State exercises no role in terms of vetting the qualifications or suitability of the person for the job offered. It also means that the employer is prepared to take on the person concerned and he or she is, therefore, less likely to require State benefits. Non-EEA personnel have the same rights as Irish persons in a similar position.
While it is clearly expected that an employee will remain with the original employer for the duration of the work permit, my Department has dealt with a number of cases where employees, having decided for various reasons to leave their original employer, have not returned to their country of origin. Where such cases have been brought to our attention and where the employee has secured an offer of employment from another employer we have adopted a helpful and pragmatic approach by issuing new work permits. It is necessary, however, for the second employer in such cases to seek confirmation through FÁS that an Irish or EEA worker is not available and willing to take up the vacancy which is to be offered to the foreign worker. I have no immediate plans to change further the arrangements under which work permits are issued.
The working visa or work authorisation scheme, which was introduced in June 2000, is available to those who have an offer from an employer in Ireland of employment in one of three designated high-skill categories, namely information and computing technologies, construction professionals and nurses. The important distinction in this scheme is that the employee holds the working visa or authorisation and the worker can change to different employment within the sector. In addition, the visa lasts for two years.
John McGuinness
Ceist:
55
Mr. McGuinness
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment
if a decision regarding an application for a work permit by a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny will be expedited.
[3984/02]
I can confirm that the work permits section of my Department has received the application to which the Deputy referred. Assuming the application is completed correctly and is otherwise in order, processing time will take approximately 12 weeks from the date of receipt of the application.
The waiting list or backlog of work permit applications awaiting decision has increased from 1,900 on 1 January 2001 to 6,953 applications last December and is directly related to the increase in the number of applications being received. The backlog on 31 January 2002 stood at 5,529 applications.
The number of work permit applications increased from an average of more than 350 per week in 2000 to more than 825 per week last year. The level of applications climbed during the year and in December alone, an unprecedented 5,690 applications were received. New procedures were introduced with effect from 2 January 2002 and this has resulted, at least temporarily, in a reduction in the number of applications received. The average number of complete and valid appli cations for January 2002 was 325 applications per week.
While the staff of the section was increased by 50% last year in an effort to reduce processing time, the very large increase in applications meant the waiting period could not be reduced. Nevertheless, the staff in the section issued 36,436 permits in 2001, compared with some 18,000 in the year 2000.
